
Glass_iJ2^j_ai- 
Book. 



ill 



/^^ 



General Public School 

Laws of Alabama 

1908 




ISSUED BY 

HARRY C. GUNNELS 

SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION 



GENERAL 



PUBLIC SCHOOL LAWS 



OF 






ALABAMA 
1908 




^W^ 



.ISSUED BY 



HARRY C. GUNNELS 



Superintendent of Education 



BROWN PRINTING CO., MONTGOMBRY, ALA., SXAXE PRINTERS 



STATE DEPAETMENT OF EDUCATION. 



HARRY C. GUNNELS, WILLIAM F. FEAGIN, 

Superintendent of Education. Chief Clerli, See-Treas. District 

Agricultural Schools. 

W. C. SWANSON and JAMES N. GUNNELS, 
Assistant Clerlis. 

MISS MARGARET PIERCE and MISS SUSIE OFFUTT, 
Stenographers. 



STATE BOARD OF EXAMINERS. 

HARRY C. GUNNELS, President. 

HENRY J. WILLINGHAM, Secretary. 

MISS SARAH CLARK. 



STATE TEXT BOOK COMMISSION. 

GOVERNOR B, B. COMER, Chairman. 

SUPT. HARRY C. GUNNELS, Secretary. 
First District — S. S. Murphy, Mobile. 
Second District — John P. Selman, Troy. 
Third District — J. V. Brown, Dothan. 
Fourth District — D. M. Calloway, Selma. 
Fifth District-;- J. P. Neff, LaFayette. 
Sixth District — G. W, Brock, Livingston. 
Seventh District— J. B. Hobdy, Albertville. 
Eighth District — H. T. Lile, Falkville. 
Ninth District — C. B. Glenn, Birmingnam. 



COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL COMMISSION. 

GOA^ERNOR B. B. COMER, Chairman. 

SUPT. HARRY C. GUNNELS, Secretary. 

Hon. Wm. W. Brandon. 



IN KJ^CFTANAK 



o 



PUBLIC SCHOOL LAWS OF ALABAMA. 



Artkjle 1. 

public school fund. 

1678. (3539) (943) Appropriations for public 
schools. — For the maintenance of a system of public 
schools of the State the following snms of money are 
hereby appropriated for every scholastic year, to-wti : 

1. The annual interest at six per cent on all stiwis of 
money which have heretofore been or w^hich may hereaf- 
ter be received by the State, as the proceeds of sales of 
lands gran-ted or entrusted by the United States to the 
State, or to the several tow^nships thereof, valueless six- 
teenth section fund, and school indemnity fund for 
school jnirposes. 

2. The annual interest at four per cent on that ]>art 
of the surplus revenue of the United States deposited 
with the State under the act of congress approved June 
23, 1836. 

3. All annual lents, incomes, and profits or interests 
arising from the proceeds of sales of all lands as may 
hereafter be given by the United States, or by this State, 
or bv individuals, for the support of the public schools 
of the State. 

4. All such sums as may accrue to the State as es- 
cheats the same to be applied to the support of the pub- 
lic schools during the scholastic year next ensuing the 
receipt in the State treasury. 

5. The net amount of poll tax that may be collected 
in the State; poll tax collected in every county to be re- 
tained therein for the support of the public schools 
thereof and distributed and disbursed as provided in 
this chapter. 

G. Licenses w^hich are by law^ required to be paid into 
the school fund of any county to be promptly ]3aid by 



the judge of probate or other person collecting the same 
to the county superintendent of education and to be ex- 
pended for the benefit of the public schools of each coun- 
ty. 

7. The further sum of three hundred and fifty thous- 
sand dollars annually for every scholastic year. 

1679. (3540) (944) WJien appropriations accrue ^ 
plmced to credit of educational fund. — All such appro- 
priations, except the poll tax, shall accrue to the edu- 
cational fund on the first day of October, in each year; 
and on that day the State auditor shall place to the cred- 
it of that fund, on the books in his office, all such 
amounts as accrue thereto from the sources in this arti- 
cle mentioned, except the poll tax, for the scholastic 
year beginning on that day. 



Article 2. 

officers and boards of public schools. 

1680. (3541) (945) Officers and hoards of adminis- 
tration of puhlic schools. — For the administration and 
government of public schools in this State, there are the 
following officers and boards of education : 

1. The superintendent of education. 

2. A county superintendent of education in each 
county. 

3. Three district trustees in each school district. 

4. One county board of education; constituted as 
hereinafter provided. 



Article 3. 

superintendent of education. 

1681. (3542) (946) Term of office; sa?ar^.— "The 
Superintendent of Education" holds office for the term 



of four years from the time of his installation in office, 
and until his successor is elected and qualified, and shall 
receive a salary of three thousand dollars per annum, 
payable in monthly installments, on the last day of each 
month, and shall not be eligible as his own successor. 

1682.' (3543 (94:7) Oath of of ice and bond.— Before 
entering upon the duties of his office, he shall take oath 
of office prescribed by the constitution, and shall also 
give bond, with sureties to be approved by the governor, 
in the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, conditioned faith- 
fully to discharge the duties of his office so long as he 
shall remain therein, or perform any of the duties there- 
of ; and such bond shall be fined in the office of the sec- 
retary of state. % 

1683. (3544) (948) Office and hooks, papers and re- 
cords. — He shall have an office at the capitol of the 
State, where the bonds, papers and records of his office 
shall be kept, and where he shall give attendance when 
not absent on official business; and it shall be the priv- 
ilege of all persons interested to have access, at all 
proper hours, to the books, papers, and records of the 
office. 

1684. (3545) (949) Clerks and their salaries.— Re 
is authorized to employ a chief clerk, two bookkeepers, 
and a stenographer for service in his office; and such 
clerks shall be allowed salaries as follows: The chief 
clerk, eighteen hundred dollars per year; the two book- 
keepers, fifteen hundred dollars per year each; the ste- 
nographer, seven hundred and fifty dollars per year, to 
be paid as the salaries of other department clerks are 
paid. 

1685. (3546) (950) Duties of the superintendent of 
education. — The duties of the superintendent of educa- 
cation shall be as follows: 

1. He shall devote his time to the care and improve- 
ment of the common schools, and the promotion of pub- 
lic education, and shall exercise a general supervision 



6 

over all the educational interests of the State; and to 
this end he shall have jDOwer to require from the county 
superintendent of education, township and district trus- 
tees of public schools, and all other school officers, all 
such reports and infoimation relating to the education- 
al fund, or the condition of the schools and the manage- 
ment thereof, as he may deem important, or as' may be 
prescribed by law; and he may remove from office any 
such officer, except the county superintendent, for fail- 
ure to make such report, give such information, or dis- 
charge any other official duty. 

2. He shall annually, as far as practicable, visit ev- 
ery county in the State for the purpose of inspect- 
ing the schools and their management, the accounts of 
ty superintendents of education, and other school offi- 
cers, and for diffusing as widely as possible, by personal 
address and personal communication, infoimation as to 
the importance of public schools and the best method for 
their management; aiid he shall encourage and assist 
at organizing and conducting teachers' and superintend- 
ents' institutes. 

3. He sliall make provisions for instructing all pu- 
pils in all schools and colleges supported, in whole or in 
part, by public money, or under State control, in hy- 
giene and pJiysiology, with special refeience to the ef- 
fects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, and narcotics upon 
the human system. 

4. He shall make provision for instructing all pupils 
in all schools and colleges supported, in whole or in 
part, by public moneys, or under State control, in the 
constitution of the United States and the constitution 
of the State of Alabama. 

5. He shall annually apportion the public school 
fund to the several counties, and the county board of ed- 
ucation shall apportion the same to the school districts 
as required by section 256 of constitution, and shall see 
to the proper disbursement of the same ; and to this end 
he shall keep an accurate account with all officers who 
may be custodians or disbursers of th school fund, or 
any part thereof. 



6. He shall prepare all forms, and have printed and 
distributed all such blanks as may be necessary, or as 
may be required by law, in the administration of the 
public school system. 

7. He shall furnish the county superintendents and 
other school officers all necessary books for keeping their 
accounts and records, to be and remain public property ; 
and he shall prescribe a uniform system of keeping such 
accounts and records. 

8. He shall take receipts for all such books so fur- 
nished by him to school officeis, and such office i^s shall 
take good care thereof, and turn them over to their suc- 
cessors in office. 

9. He shall keep a debtor and creditor account with 
each township, or other school district, in the ^ate, of 
all funds accruing thereto for educational purposes. 

10. He shall keep an accurate account of the capital 
of all sixteenth-section or other trust funds, to which 
each township or school district may be entitled, show- 
ing whence and when such funds were derived. 

11. He shall preserve in his office all bonds of school 
officers and others required to be filed therein. 

^ 12. He shall cause suits to be instituted and prose- 
cuted against all defaulters to the educational fund, and 
for this purpose may employ attorneys; but he shall not 
have power to contract to pay such attorneys out of the 
educatioanl fund more than ten per cent of the amount 
recovered by them in such suits; and of such fund he 
may pay such lawful costs as may be taxed against him 
as superintendent of education, in case he is cast in any 
of such suits. 

13. He shall, by correspondence, exchange of official 
reports, and other proper means, elicit information rel- 
ative to the system of public education in other States 
and countries, and disseminate all useful knowledge re- 
garding the same among the county superintendents and 
other school officers in the State. 

14. He shall collect in his office such school books, 
apparatus, maps, charts, and speciments of improved 
school furniture as can be obtained without expense to 
the State. 



15. He shall prepare and have printed in pamphlet 
form by the public printer all laws, rules, and regula- 
tions pertaining to the public school system of the State, 
including therein the constitution of the United States 
and the constitution of the State of Alabama, an(i cause 
the same to be distributed among the county superin- 
tendents of education, and other officers connected with 
the school system, for the information of those interest- 
ed in the educational interests of the State. 

16. He shall hold, or cause to be held, within each 
congressional district, one or more teachers' institutes, 
to be conducted by a teacher experienced in and familiar 
with tlie most improved methods of instruction, for a 
teim of one week or more during the summer months of 
each year ; and for such purpose may, from time to time, 
certify to the State auditor the amount, not exceeding 
twelve hundred dollars in any one year, necessary to 
defray the expenses of employing teachers to conduct 
such institutes and instruct the teachers who attend 
them, and upon such certificate it shall be the duty of 
the State auditor to draw his warrant upon the State 
treasurer for such sum or sums in favor of the super- 
/uteudent of education as may remain unapportioned in 
the treasury at the time. And such sums must be dis- 
bursed so as to secure the greatest good to the largest 
number of teachers in the common schools, and it shall 
be liie duty of the superintendent of education to take 
vouch (>rs therefor to be kept on file in his office, and to 
make an itemized statement in his quadrennial report 
as to how and to whom said money has been disbursed. 

17. He shall perform such other duties as are, or 
m.ay be, prescribed by law. 

1686. (3547) (951) Report to governor: contents. — ■ 
He sluill also, annually, on or before the first day of De- 
cember, report to the governor in writing — 

1, A brief history of his labors. 

2. An abstract of the reports received by him from 
the county superintendents of education, exhibiting the 
condition of the public schools. 



9 

3. Estimates and accounts of expenditures of school 
money. 

4. An itemized statement showing how the contin- 
gent fund of liis dej)artment and all other special funds 
or appropriations under his control have been disposed 
of. . 

5. Such recommendations as he mat desire to make 
for the improvement of the school system, and the care 
and increase of the educational fund. 

6. All such other matters relating to his office and to 
the public schools as he shall deem ex^Dedient to commu- 
nicate. 

1687. (3548) (952) Report to he printed and distrib- 
uted. — The governor shall, when such report is Jaid be- 
fore him, direct the superintendent of education to have 
printed in the same manner and upon the same condi- 
tions as other printing is done, during the recess of the 
legislature, a sufficient number of copies of the report to 
supply the county superintendents and district trustees 
of public schools, and other school officers, and for the 
usual exchange with other States,, and with the leading 
cities of the United States; and it shall be the duty of 
the superintendent of education to distrihute the same 
as indicated in this section. 

1688. (3549) (953) Vacancy filled hy governor; 
term. etc.. of appointee. — If the office of superintendent 
of education should at any time become vacant, by 
death, resignation, or otherwise, the governor shall ap- 
point a suitable person to fill such office for the unex- 
pired term ; and such appointee shall give bond and 
(]ua]ify in the same manner as if he had been elected for 
a full term. 



10 

Article 4./ 

townships abolished. 

1689, Township abolished; public schools re-district- 
ed. — Township lines for school purposes are abolished; 
provided the inhabitants of no township shall be depriv- 
ed of the sixteenth section or any fund arising there- 
from, or of selling and leasing such lands as provided 
bv Jaw. 



Article 5. 

townships and school districts incorporated. 

1690. (3624) (1024) (963) (576) (502) Incorpora- 
tion of townships. — The inhabitants of each township in 
the State are incorporated by the name of "Township 

, of range /' according to the number 

of the surveys of the United States, and the inhabitants 
of each school district are incorporated by the name and 
number bv which it is known or designated. 



Article 6. 
school districts and re-districting boards; how 

CREATED. 

1691. District lines and boundaries ; hotv changed. — 
The lines and boundaries of any public school district 
heretofore established by general law or any special law 
may be changed, or a new public school district may be 
created, by the vote of a majority of the county board of 
education, upon application to said board, and after no- 
tice of said application and of the time and place of 
hearing the same has been given by publication for three 
successive weeks in some newspaper published in said 
county, if a newspaper be published therein, and by post- 



11 

ing written notices in at least three public places in the 
territory to be affected by said cliange. Said publica- 
tion and notice shall be, made and given by the county 
superintendent of education, and the person or persons 
making the application for such change shall deposit 
with him a sum of money sufficient to pay the expenses 
of said publication and notice,?, such sum of money to be 
expended by him for that purpose. And whenever the 
boundaries of anj public school district are changed by 
the county board of education or a new public school dis- 
trict shall be created by said board under this section, 
the county superintendent of education, within ten days 
after such change, or the creation of such district, shall 
file in the office of the judge of probate of his county, an 
accurate description of such change, or cf the district so 
created, and the judge of probate shall record the same 
in the book to be kept by him. The change of the lines 
or boundaries of any public school district or the crea- 
tion of a new district under this section may also be 
made hj adding to or taking from any district composed 
of an incorporated city or town such contiguous terri- 
tory as such board may deem best. 

1692. Counties and districts not included within ar- 
ticle. — The provisions of this article shall not apply to 
any county heretofore districted by authority of a spe- 
cial law, and which has a special levy from the county 
for the support of the public schools therein. 

1693. Incorporated cities and toions separate school 
school districts. — Each incorporated city or town in the 
State is a separate school district. 

1694. School districts not affected, hy county lines. — 
Any school district which, by the creation of new coun- 
ties or the change of county lines, shall lie in two or 
more counties, shall in no wise be repealed by the crea- 
tion of said new counties or the change of county lines. 

1695. Funds; hoiv paid. — The superintendent of edu- 
cation of the coirnties in which said school districts shall 



12 

lie, shall pay over to the treasurer of said school boaids 
in said school districts all the funds or money coming 
into their haiids due said school districts. 

1696. Repeal. — All laws as to school districts which, 
by the creation of new counties or the change of county 
lines, lie in two or more counties, which are in conflict 
with the provisions of this article, are repealed. 



Article 7. 

DISTRICT trustees; election, POWERS;, AND DUTIES. 

1697. (3560) (966) District trustees; election of: 
term of offi,cc. — On the first Saturday in July, 1908, 
and each fourth year thereafter, at an hour to be fixed 
and appointed by the county superintendent of educa- 
tion of each county, and to be uniform throughout the 
county, after notice has been given thereof by the coun- 
ty superintendent of education by publication in a news- 
paper published in said county for three successive 
weeks (the expenses to be paid out of the countytreas- 
ury), ancli f there be no newspaper published in the 
county, then by written notices sent to each of the 
chairmen of the boards of district trustees in such coun- 
ty, the qualified electors of each public school district 
shall meet at the district school house and elect from 
among the freeholders and householders who can read 
and write residing in sueh districts, a local board of 
three district trustees whose duty shall be as hereinaf- 
ter provided. The chairman, or, in his absence, a mem- 
ber of the board of district trustees shall preside over 
such meeting and shall certify to the county superin- 
tendent of education the result of the election held 
thereat, which certificate must show the names of the 
district trustees elected at said meeting for the district, 
and said certificate must be filed with the county super- 
intendent of education within five days after sueh meet- 
ing and election; provided, however, that in the event 



13 

the chairman or other member of such board of district 
trustees should not be present at the time fixed for said 
meeting-, or, being present, should willfully fail or re- 
fuse to call said meeting to order or to preside over the 
same, then the qualified electors of such district assem- 
bled may choose from among their number a person to 
preside over such meeting, and such person shall be ful- 
ly authorized to so preside and to make the certificate of 
election of district trustees had at such meeting and to 
file the same as herein provided. Any qualified voter 
of such district may, within ten days after the holding 
of such election, contest the election of any person or 
persons shown to be elected by sal dcertificate, by filing 
a contest in writing with the county superintendent of 
education and addressed to the county board o? edu- 
cation, stating therein the ground for such contest, and 
it shall be the duty of the county board of education, 
upon notice to them by the county superintendent of 
education of the filing of such contest, to meet and hear 
and determine such contests within twenty days from 
the holding of the election. The county superintendent 
of education, upon the filing of all such contests, shall 
immediately notify in writing such person whose elec- 
tion is contested, of the filing of the same and of the 
date and place where such contest shall be heard. Such 
district trustees shall hold office for the term of four 
years from the time of their election and until their suc- 
cessors are elected and qualified. 

1698. District trustees; organization of. — The trus- 
tees provided for in the preceding section shall within 
ten days after their election or appointment meet at 
the public school district schoolhouse, or some place 
more convenient to all concerned, and shall organize by 
electing one of their number chairman and another sec- 
retary. 

1699. (3562) (968) Duties of district trustees.— The 
district trustees shall — 

1. Make enumeration of children within school age 
as provided by law. 



14 

2. Care for all school property. 

3. Nominate teachers for their school districts, such 
nomination to be subject to the approval of the count}^ 
board of education, the contract to teach to be made 
with said county board of education. 

4. Visit the schools within their respective districts, 
observe the management of the same, and make quarter- 
ly reports of the condition of such schools to the coun- 
ty superintendent of education. 

5. Perform such other duties as may be requierd by 
the county board of education hereinafter provided for. 
If said district trustees shall fail or refuse for a period 
of thirty days after required in writing by the county 
board of education to nominate and submit for approval 
a. teacher or teachers for their district, or for such peri- 
od after so required in writing, shall fail or refuse to 
perform any of the duties required of them under this 
section, the county board of education shall be author- 
ized to perform any such duties, including the nomina- 
tion and employment of teachers in lieu of said district 
trustees, wherein they have failed to perform them. 

1700. Graded schools increase numher of trustees. — 
Whenever there has been established in any school dis- 
trict, a system of graded schools free to the children of 
school age, within such district for a per<>d of not less 
than eight months in each year, the electors of such dis- 
trict may increase the number of the district trustees to 
five, and assume entire control of the public schools 
therein; provided, the trustees of such districts shall 
make all reports required by law to the county board of 
education. 

1701. Municipal school district; homrd of education 
and trustees for. — In all municipalities where there is 
a board of education, the board shall have full charge 
and control of such separate school district, and shall 
have and exercise all the powers and authoi'ity conferr- 
ed by law upon township trustees. In municipalities 
where there is no such board of education, the powers 
and duties of trustees shall devolve upon and be per- 



15 

formed by tlie mayor and board of aldermen, or other 
governing body, of said municipality, and all funds due 
such separate school districts shall be paid to the board 
of education of such separate school district, or to the 
mayor, board of aldermen, or other governing body of 
such municipality, Avhere there is no such board of ed- 
ucation, by the county superintendent of education, as 
required by lav^. 



Article 8. 
county superintendent of education. 

1702. (3550) (954) One elected for each county.— 
A county superintendent of education for every county 
shall be elected on the first Tuesday after the first Mon- 
day in November, 1908, and every fourth year thereaf- 
ter, and all local, or special laws in conflict herewith 
are expressly repealed. 

1703. (3551) (955) Term of office; removal.— The 
term of office of county superintendents shall commence 
on the first day of October next after their election ,and 
shall hold office for four years and until their succes- 
sors shall qualify, and shall not be required to file their 
official bonds until fifteen days before the beginning of 
the term of office, and the terms of all county superin- 
tendents now in office are hereby extended to the first 
day of October, 1909. 

1704. (3552) (956) Oath of office and doJicZ.— Every 
county superintendent of education, before entering 
upon the duties of his office, must take the oath of office 
prescribed by the constitution, and give bond in an 
amount to be fixed by the superintendent of education, 
but in no case to be less than double the probable 
amount of money that may be in his hands at any time, 
with good and sufficient sureties, and payable and con- 
ditioned as official bands of other public officers. 



16 

1705. (3553) (957) Approval and record of bond.— 
Such bond must be approved b}^, and, with the oath of 
office, must be filed and recorded in the office of the 
judge of probate of the county ; and a certified copy of 
the bond must also be filed in the office of the superin- 
tendent of education for his approval. 

1706. (3554) (958) New or additional hond; effect 
of notice to give. — The superintendent of education 
shall require of any county superintendent of education 
a new or additional bond, in the same, or a different 
amount, as that of the original bond, whenever he shall 
find it necessary for the protection of the educational 
fund of the county ; and no county superintendent of ed- 
ucation, after receiving notice to give such new or ad- 
ditional bond, shall continue in the discharge of the du- 
ties of his office until such new or additional bond is 
given. 

1707. (3556) (960) His duties.— The duties of the 
county superintendent of education shall be as follows : 

1. He shall have an office at the county site of his 
county, where he must, on the first Saturday of each 
month, from the beginning of the scholastic year until 
the close of the public schools for that year, be present 
to transact business with the officers and teachers of 
public schools, 

2. He must receive and take charge of any money, 
funds, property, or proceeds of any character, raised in 
his county by county taxation, or which may accrue to 
him or to the county from any gift, grant, bequest, de- 
vise, endowment, or otherwise, to be used in aid of, or 
in connection with, money apportioned to his county 
from the educational fund, and shall faithfully keep the 
same, separate and apart from any other funds or prop- 
erty whatsoever; and after the county board of educa- 
tion shall have apportioned the public funds of the 
county, as in this code provided, he shall, by and with 
the consent of the county board of education, distribute 
and pay out all money raised in accordance with this 
subdivision; but all money, raised by local taxation in 



any school district or incorporated city or town, shall 
be expended for the benefit of the district, city, or town 
in which the money is raised, and by such persons, and 
in such manner, as are authorized by the laws in force 
for the control and government of public schools in 
such district, city or town. 

3. He shall examine into the condition of all school 
funds of his county, including the sixteenth-section 
fund, and sixteenth section lands unsold in his county; 
and he is authorized and required in the name of the 
State for the use of the township, to bring all necessa- 
ry suits for the recovery of the possession of such lands, 
or against trespassers thereon. 

4. He shall, as soon as he receives the annual appor- 
tionment of the educational fund to his county and the 
same has been apportioned among the districts^by the 
county board of education, notify the district trustees 
of each district of the amount apportioned to each sep- 
arate school district. 

5. He shall enter in a book or books, kept for that 
purpose, the exact amount and date of all moneys re; 
ceived and paid out by him on account of the education- 
al fund of his county, showing by whom or to whom 
paid, and for what purpose, and also the amount of the 
educational fund apportioned to and distributed in each 
district for each race; and such books shall be open to 
the inspection of all persons interested. 

6. He shall, on or before the fifteenth day of October 
of each year, forward to the superintendent of educa- 
tion, on blanks to be furnished him 'by the latter, an 
annual report of the public schools of his county for 
the preceding year, which shall set forth (1) the amount 
of school money received by him from all sources to the 
end of the year, specifying how much was received from 
each source; (2) how much has been disbursed by him 
during such year, for what purpose, and the names of 
teachers to whom money has been paid, the time they 
taught, and the total amount paid to each teacher ; ( 3 ) 
the amount of funds then in hand for each township or 
school district in his county; and (4) the manner in 



18 

which, and the extent to which, he has discharged the 
duties required by law to be performed by him. 

7. He must, monthly, on the first Saturday in each 
month of each year, or as soon thereafter as practicable, 
pay the teachers of the public schools, upon the certifi- 
cate of the trustees of the district in which the school 
was taught; and in counties in which separate districts 
have been established by special laws, he shall pay over 
to the officers authorized to receive the same their pro- 
portionate shares of the school revenues at the times 
above designated. 

1708. (3557) (963) Forfeiture for failure to make 
annual reports. — If any county superintendent shall 
willfully fail to make out and forward to the superin- 
tendent of education any annual report required by 
this article, within ten days after the time it should be 
made, he shall be liable to a forfeiture of his commis- 
sion, to be declared by the superintendent of educa- 
tion and to removal from office. 

1709. (3558) (962) Books and accounts liable to ex- 
amination. — The books, accounts, and vouchers of the 
county superintendent of education may be examined at 
any time by the superintendent of education in person 
or by duly authorized agent. 

1710. (3559) (965) Vacancies^ hoiv filled; term ^. etc. , 
of appointees. — The superintendent of education shall 
fill all vacancies in the office of county superintendent 
of education, by appointment; and such appointee shall 
hold during the unexpired term, and until his successor 
qualifies, and shall give bond and qualify as is required 
by law, 

1711. (3555) (959) Compensation of county super- 
imtendonts of education. — For their compensation, they 
shall receive four per cent on all State public moneys 
legally disbursed by them, not to exceed the sum of 
eighteen hundred dollars for any calendar year. For all 



19 

moneys received and disbursed by them, the county su- 
perintendents shall account to the superintendent of ed- 
ucation, as now provided by law. 



Article 9. 

county boards of education; election^ powers, and 

duties of. 

1712. County 'hoards of trustees. — The chairman of 
the several boards of district trustees shall meet at the 
court house of their respective counties, the second Sat- 
urday in August after their election, and shall el*t four 
county school trustees, who shall hold office for the 
term of four years from the date of their election and 
until their successors are elected and qualified. Be- 
fore entering upon the duties of office, they shall take 
the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of the 
State. 

1713. (3583) (989) County hoard of education. — 
The county superintendent of education and said four 
county trustees shall constitute the county board of ed- 
ucation within their respective counties. The county 
superintendent of education shall be the chief executive 
officer of said county board of education and shall see 
that all rules, regulations, and orders of said county 
board are enforced; provided, that no district trustee 
shall, during his term of office, be eligible to election as 
a county trustee, nor shall more than one teacher ac- 
tively engaged in teaching in the public schools in this 
State be a member of said county board of education at 
one and the same time. The court of county commis- 
sioners, or board of revenue, of each county, shall pro- 
vide, at the expense of the county, all necessary blank 
books, stationery, and postage for the use of the county 
boards of education of the county. 



20 

1714. (3583) (989) Vacancies in boards of educa- 
tion; how filled. — Any vacancy on the county board of 
education shall be filled by the superintendent of educa- 
tion of the State by and with the approval and consent 
of the governor, for the unexpired term, and any vacan- 
cy on a board of trustees shall be filled for the unexpired 
term by the county board of education, 

1715. Powers and duties of county boards of trus- 
tees. — The county board of education shall have entire 
control of the public schools within their respective 
counties, unless otherwise provided by law. Thev shall 
make rules and regulations for the government of the 
schools, see that the teachers perform their duties and 
exercise such powers, consistent with th^ law, as in 
their judgment will best subserve the cause of educa- 
tion. The board shall have the right to acquire, pur- 
chase, lease, receive, hold, transmit, and convey the title 
to real and personal property for school purposes, ex- 
cept where otherwise provided. Said board of educa- 
tion shall, by and in the name of the county board of ed- 
ucation, sue and contract; all contracts to be made af- 
ter resolution adopted by said board, and spread on its 
minutes and signed by the president and secretary, and 
all process shall be executed on the secretary of said 
board. 

1716. Pay or compensation of county board of educa- 
tion. — Each of the four members of the county board of 
education shall receive from the public school funds of 
the county, to be disbursed by the county superintendent 
of education, two dollars a day for each day's work de- 
voted by him to the public schools; provided, he shall 
not receive pay for more than ten days in any one year. 
The county superintendent of education shall apportion 
among the several school districts the amount of com- 
pensation to be paid to the members of the county board 
of education, and account for the same in like manner as 
provided for the compensation paid to teachers in such 
districts. 



21 

Article 10. 
enumeration or census of school children. 

1717. Census or enumeration of school children. — 
The district trustees of each public school district in 
this State, whether existing under general law or crea- 
ted by special or local law, and the boards of education 
or school trustees, or other governing board or body, of 
any public school district lying in any incorporated 
town or city in this State, shall cause to be made during 
the month of July, 1908, and every even-numbered year 
thereafter, an enumeration of all the children within 
school age residing in each of said several school dis- 
tricts, and to that end said trustees, or boards of educa- 
tion, or other governing board or body, shall select and 
appoint a proper and competent person to make such 
enumeration, on blanks to be prepared and provided 
by the superintendent of education of the State, and 
such person shall make a report of such enumeration un- 
der oath to the county superintendent of education of 
his county by the 15th day of August next succeeding 
the time of the taking of said census. The county su- 
perintendent shall then make a written verified report 
by districts to the superintendent of education of the 
State. 

1718. Co7npensation of enumerators. — The court of 
county commissioners, or boaid of revenue, or other 
court of like jurisdiction for each county, shall fix the 
compensation of each of said persons taking such school 
census in each district, no part of which is situated in 
any incorporated town or city, and shall order the same 
paid to such persons out of the general funds in the 
county treasury of the county wherein such enumera- 
tions are made, and the mayor and city council, or oth- 
er governing body, of any municipality wherein a public 
school district is situated, in whole or in part, shall fix 
the compensation of the person who shall take the school 
census in such district, and shall order the same paid 
out of the treasury of such town or city. 



22 

Article 11. 

teachers; qualifications, license, powers, and 
duties of. 

1719. Board of examiners. — There shall be constitut- 
ed a State board of examiners, to be composed of the su- 
perintendent of education, who shall be the president of 
the board, and two other persons, to be appointed by 
him, who shall be teachers of extensive experience and 
recognized ability. The term of office of the said board 
shall be co-equal with that of the supeiintnedent of ed- 
ucation. 

1720. Meetings of examiners. — The said State board 
of examiners shall meet during the months of Novem- 
ber and May of each year, and shall prepare questions 
for the examination of teachers. 

1721. List of questions prepared. — The president of 
the State board of examiners shall cause lists of ques- 
tions so prepared to be printed, and shall, on or before 
the fifteenth day of December and June of each year, 
send to each person appointed to conduct examinations 
in the counties of the State a sufficient number of the 
lists; the questions so sent shall be inclosed in a sealed 
envelope, on the back of which shall be plainly written 
or printed the words, "Questions for the examination of 
teachers." The seal of said envelope shall not be broken 
except as hereinafter provided. 

1722. Time's for examination of teachers. — The first 
Mondays in January and July are appointed for the ex- 
amination of teachers. The examination may be con- 
tinued from day to day for three consecutive days, if 
such continnance shall be necessary for the completion 
of the work of examination, but no examination shall 
be begun on any other day than the first day mentioned 
in this section. No examination shall be held at any 
other time, except as otherwise provided. 



23 

1723. Special examinations. — The State board of ex- 
aminers may hold, at the department of education in 
Montgomery, special examinations for the benefit of 
persons who are prevented from taking the regular ex- 
amination by sickness, absence from the State, or other 
unavoidable cause. Each person taking a special exam- 
ination shall pay to the State board of examiners a fee 
of five dollars. Special examinations shall be equal in 
all respects to the regular examinations. ,The superin- 
tendent of education may also, at his discretion, allow 
examinations in May and October at any Alabama nor- 
mal school which requests it for applicants to teach in 
the public schools ; the expense of the examination to be 
borne by the applicants. 

1724. Examinations in counties; hy ivhoni and how 
conducted. — The regular examination shall be conduct- 
ed in each county by the county superintendent of edu- 
cation, unless for good and substantial reasons the State 
board of examiners shall deem it best to select for this 
service another person appointed for that purpose by 
the State board of examiners, and if he shall be unable, 
by reason of sickness or other unavoidable necessity to 
conduct the same, then by some other competent person 
appointed for that purpose by him. Said examination 
shall begin at 10 o'clock a. m. of the day appointed, at 
which hour the person appointed to conduct the exami- 
nation shall, in the presence of the applicants for ex- 
amination, break the seal of the envelope containing 
the lists of questions, and shall distribute the questions 
among the applicants. All applicants shall utsdergo 
the examination in the same room, or in sight of the per- 
son appointed to conduct such examination. 

1725. Examination fees. — Each applicant for exam- 
ination shall, before entering upon the examination, de- 
posit with the person appointed to conduct the exami- 
nation an examination fee as follows: An applicant for 
a third-grade certificate, a fee of one dollar; an appli- 
cant for a second-grade certificate, a fee of one and one- 
half dollars; an applicant for a first-grade certificate, a 



24 

fee of two dollars; an applicant for a life certificate, a 
fee of three dollars. Tlie fees received from the exami- 
nation of teachers at regular examinations shall be paid 
into the State treasury to the credit of the educational 
fundj and the State auditor shall ^ on the requisition of 
the superintendent of education, issue warrants on the 
State treasurer, to be paid out of the educational fund, 
for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this 
article, such as the payment of expenses for postage, for 
expressage, fbr cleik hire, for State board of examiners 
only, for the per diem of the State board of examiners, 
for paying county conductors, and for other incidetal 
expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this 
article. 

1726. Compensation of State board of examiners. — 
The appointed members of the State board shall receive 
five dollars per day, including Sundays, for the time 
they are engaged in conducting the examination of 
teachers under this article. 

1727. Compejisation of examiners. — The county su- 
perintendent or person appointed to conduct the exam- 
ination in each county shall receive ten dollars for his 
services in conducting each examination. 

1728. Teachers shall not receive assistance on exam- 
ination. — Teachers on examination shall not be permit- 
ted to sit near enough to one another to read the other's 
papers, and no teacher on examination shall receive any 
assistance from any person, or by reference to an}^ book, 
map, or chart, or from any other source, and no person 
shall be licensed to teach who shall endeavor to procure 
any such assistance. 

1729. Statement signed by teachers. — Each teacher 
so examined shall, upon the completion of his examina- 
tion, sign a statement that he or she has not received any 
assistance in said examination from any source; which 
statement shall be kept on file by the county superin- 
tendent of education. 



25 

1730. Applicant must he of good moral character. — 
Unless the applicant is known to the person appointed 
to conduct the examination to be of good moral char- 
acter, or shall make satisfactory proof of the same, in 
writing, he or she shall not be admitted to the examina- 
tion. 

1731. Habitual use of profane language or intoxi- 
cants. — Any one who habitually uses profane language 
or intoxicants shall be deemed of immoral character. 

1732. (3576) (983) Grades of certificates.- -There 
shall be three grades of teachers' certificates, besides the 
life certificate, hereinafter provided, to be known a» cer- 
tificates of the first, second, and third grades, each of 
which must show the branches in which the holder has 
been examined, and his general average. 

1733. (3576) (983) Percentage and certificate re- 
quired. — In no case shall an applicant for a certificate 
receive the same who fails to answer fifty per cent of the 
questions propounded in any branch, and whose general 
average is below seventy-five per cent. Every teacher 
in the public schools must obtain a certificate prior to 
his employment. 

1734. (3577) (984) Branches of learning exam- 
ined upon. — x\pplicants for third-grade certificates shall 
be examined in the following branches: Othography, 
reading, penmanship, grammar, practical arithmetic 
through fractions, primary geography, and the element- 
ary principles of physiology and hygiene and agricul- 
ture; for second-grade certificates, they shall be exam- 
ined in all the foregoing branches, and also in practical 
arithmetic, history of Alabama, history of the United 
States, English grammar and composition, and inter- 
mediate geography ; for first-grade certificates, they shall 
be examined in all the following branches, and also in 
algebra, natural philosophy, geometry, the school laws 
of Alabama, and the theory and practice of teaching. 



26 

1735. Examination shall he ivritten; kind of paper 
and ink to he used. — In all examinations under this arti- 
cle, the answers shall be written on legal cap paper, with 
pen and ink. The subject or branch shall be plainly 
written at the top of the page, and the answers shall be 
numbered to correspond with the questions. 

1736. Examination papers delivered to examiner; 
transmission to hoard. — When an applicant shall have 
completed his examination, he shall write his name and 
address on each paper of the same, and deliver the same 
to the person appointed to conduct the examination, 
who shall inclose the papers of each applicant in a sep- 
arate envelope, together with his certificate of the good 
moral character of the applicant, or the written proof 
of the same, on which he admitted the applicant to ex- 
amination, and shall transmit the same to the secretary 
of the State board of examiners without delay. 

1737. Board examines mid grades papers. — The State 
board of examiners shall examine the pajDcrs coming to 
it under the provisions of the preceding section, as ex- 
peditiously as possible, and shall mark upon each paper 
the teacher's grade in that branch, according to the cor- 
rectness or approximate correctness of the answers. 

1738. Oertificates issued.— If, upon such examina- 
tion, it appears that the applicant is entitled to receive 
a certificate, the secretary of the board shall prepare a 
certificate in conformity with this article. The certif- 
icate shall be signed by the secretary of the State board 
of examiners and the superintendent of education, and 
shall be transmitted to the teacher entitled to the same. 

1739. Examination papers kept on file six months. 
— All examination papers shall be kept on file in the 
office of the superintendent of education subject to pub- 
lic inspection for six months. 

1740. (3579) (985) Lifetime of certificates.— Cer- 
tiflcates granted under the provisions of this article 



27 

shall entitle their holder to teach in the public schools 
of any county in this State for the following periods of 
time: A third-grade certificate, two years; a second- 
grade certificate, four years; and a first-grade certifi- 
cate, six years from the date of issuance of the same. 

1741. Life certificates. — Whenever any teacher ap- 
plying for a certificate shall make proof that he has been 
engaged for six years in teaching under first-grade cer- 
tificate, which proof the county superintendent of edu- 
cation shall transmit to the State board of examiners, 
and shall show a high degree of proficiency and profes- 
sional attainment, such teacher may be granted a life 

certificate, signed as prescribed for other certificates. 

% 

1742. Forfeiture of life certificate. — Any teacher 
holding a life certificate shall forfeit the same by leav- 
ing off the business of teaching for five consecutive 
years. 

1743. Revoking certificates. — The superintendent of 
education shall revoke the certificate of any teacher who 
shall be guilty, of immoral conduct or unbecoming or 
indecent behavior. 

1744. Register of licensed teachers. — The secretary 
of the State board of examiners shall keep a register of 
all teachers examined and licensed under this article, 
showing the name and postoffice address of each teach- 
er and the date and grade of his certificate, and shall 
keep the same on file in the office of the superintendent 
of education, and shall devote his time, when not en- 
gaged in the Avork of examining teachers, to clerical 
work in the department of education. 

1745. Separate districts. — The provisions of this ar- 
ticle shall not be so construed as to prohibit separate 
school districts of two thousand inhabitants or more, 
having authority at present by their charter to examine 
teachers, to further examine teachers who have certifi- 
cates granted under this article. 



28 

1746. (3578) Instruction as to the nature of alco- 
Jiolie drinks and narcotics. — Every teacher shall give in- 
struction as to the nature of alcoholic drinks, tobacco, 
and other narcotics, and their effects upon the human 
system, and such subject shall be taught as regularly as 
any other in the public schools. 

1747. Teaching agriculture in public schools. — In 
addition to the branches now taught in the public 
schools, instruction shall be given in the elementary 
principles of agriculture, and said subject shall be 
taught as regularly as other branches are taught in said 
schools, by the use of a text-book in the hands of the pu- 
pils, and such instruction shall be given in all the pub- 
lic schools of the State. 

1748. (3580) (986) Register kept ly teacher and 
submitted. — Every teacher of a public school must keep 
a register of the actual daily attendance of the pupils 
in his school, and must submit such register to the dis- 
trict trustees for their inspection. 

1749. (3581) (987) Monthly report; not entitled to 
compensation until forwarded. — Every teacher of a pub- 
lic school must, within five days after the end of each 
scholastic month, forward to the county superintendent 
of education a complete report, setting forth the enroll- 
ment, attendance, the branches taught, and the number 
of pupils in each, distinguishing between the boys and 
the girls, and stating whether a white or colored school; 
also the number of days taught, the amount due for ser- 
vices from school revenues of the district, the number 
of visits by district trustees, and the name and postof- 
fice of the teacher ; and such report must be sworn to by 
the teacher before some one of the district trustees, and 
approved by them; and no teacher can draw any pay for 
the services rendered by him until he has forwarded his 
report in accordance with the requirements of this sec- 
tion. 



29 

1750. (3582) (988) To he paid monthhj.— The 
teachers of public schools shall be paid monthly, as pro- 
vided in this chapter. 



ARTICLE 12. 
Teachers^ Institutes. 

1751. (3590) (995) Teachers' institutes to he or- 
ganized. — ^It shall be the duty of the board of education 
in each county to organize and maintain therein teach- 
ers' institutes, one for teachers who are white persons, 
and one for teachers who are colored persons, to 15fe held 
at such times and places as the board may prescribe; 
but there shall not be less than ten licensed teachers in 
the county of the race for whom such institutes shall be 
organized. 

1752. (3591) (996) Officers and memhers of in- 
stitutes; no fee imposed without consent. — The county 
superintendent of education shall be the president of 
such institutes, and the members of the board of educa- 
tion shall be the vice-presidents thereof, one of who^l 
shall preside over its meetings in the absence of the 
president; the other ojfficers thereof may be elected. Ev- 
ery teacher of the county holding a license shall be a 
member of the institutes organized for his race. But no 
fee or assessment shall be imposed on a member without 
his consent. 

1753. (3592) (997) Meetings of institutes.— There 
shall not be less than three meetings in each year of 
such institutes, one of which shall be held in the month 
of September, and at this meeting an address to the 
teachers shall be made by some person selected by the 
educational board; and teachers holding licenses shall 
attend at least one of such meetings ; and failing to at- 
tend without a good excuse to be judged of by the county 
superintendent of education, shall forfeit one month's 
salary of teacher. 



30 

1754. (3593) (998) Business of the: mstitutes. — 
The meetings of the institutes shall be devoted mainly to 
discussions and instructions in regard to the methods 
of teaching and disciplining schools, and to the text- 
books used ,and other matters connected with the schools 
and school laws. 



ARTICLE 13. 
Children and Pupils Eligible to Public Schools. 

1755. (3595) (1000) Pupils entitled to instruction 
in public schools. — Every minor over the age of seven 
years shall be entitled to admission into, and instruc- 
tion in any public school of his or her own race or color 
in this State. 

1756. (3597) When nonresidents entitled to school 
primleges. — Any parent or guardian residing within the 
State who shall pay a local or special tax on real estate 
valued at five hundred dollars or more, in any city, or 
school district, shall be entitled to the privileges and 
benefits of the public schools in such city, or school dis- 
trict, for their children, the same as parents and guard- 
ians resident therein. The provisions of the charter of 
any municipality, or separate school district, in conflict 
herewith, are expressly repealed. 

1757. (3600) (1003) f^eparate schools for the tioo 
races. — In no case shall it be lawful to unite in one 
school children of the white and colored races. 



ARTICLE 14. 

examinations in public schools. 

1758. (3599) (1002) Public examinations, and certi- 
ficates to pupils. — Public examinations must be held in 



31 

the public schools fit least once in every year ; and when 
the board of education shall be satisfied that any pupil 
has become thoroughly educated in all the branches of 
free instruction in any one of such schools, they shall 
give to him or her a certificate to that effect. 



ARTICLE 15. 
Scholastic Periods. 

1759. (3598) (1001) Scholastic periods.— The 
scholastic year shall begin on the first day of 0<^ober 
of each year, and end on the thirtieth day of September 
of the following year; twenty days shall constitute a 
school month, and a school day shall be not less than 
six hours. 

ARTICLE 16. 

Apportionment of School Fund; Disbursement. 

1760. (3601) (1004) State auditor certifies 
amount of educational fund; superintendent appor- 
tions. — On the first day of October of each year, or as 
soon thereafter as practicable, the State auditor shall 
certify to the superintendent of education the amount of 
money which has accrued and been placed by him to the 
credit of the educational fund for the scholastic year 
commencing on that day, stating specifically the amount 
derived from each source, and any unexpended balance 
there may be from the appropriation of the previous 
year to be carried forward; and the amount so certified 
shall be apportioned by the superintendent of education, 
and be drawn and disbursed as provided by law. 

1761. (3602, 3605) (1005, 1008) Contingent ex- 
penses and amount for normal schools set apart; 
residue apportioned. — As soon as such certificatfi 
is received by the superintendent of education, 



3:i 

he shall set apart the following amounts for 
normal schools, to-wit: For the normal schools 
at Florence, Troy, Jacksonville, and at Living- 
ston, fifteen thousand dollars each ; and for other 
normal schools, such sums as are provided by law, and 
he shall then apportion all the remainder of such fund, 
as far as practicable, among the several counties in the 
State in proportion to the nunlber of school children ot 
school age therein, according to the latest returns of 
enumeration of school population of the counties which 
have been made to his office, but if such enumerations 
have not been made as provided by law, or have not been 
reported to him by the county superintendent of educa- 
tion, and the superintendent of education has not caused 
a new enumeration to be made, he shall then apportion 
to each county according to the best information he can 
obtain of the entire number of children of school age in 
such counties, but in no event shall he, in case of such 
failure to enumerate or report all the children of school 
age in the respective counties, estimate the school pop- 
ulation of any county at more than the last offlcial re- 
port to his office. 

1762. (3603) (1006) Amounts apportioned certi- 
fied to auditor; no warrants drawn in excess; balance 
unapportioned certified to treasurer. — As soon as such 
amounts have been set apart, and such apportionment 
has been made, the superintendent of education shall 
certify to the State auditor the amount set apart for 
each particular purpose or appropriation, and the total 
amount of the apportionment to the several counties, 
and the State auditor shall see that no warrants are 
drawn against the educational fund, for any purpose, 
for any amount in excess of the amounts so certified as 
set apart and apportioned; and he shall certify to the 
State treasurer the amount of the school revenue, ex- 
clusive of poll tax, unapportioned by the superintend- 
ent of education, and the treasurer shall set apart the 
amount out of any money received from the taxes of the 
current year, and he shall keep the same separate and 



33 

apart from all other revenues, and shall not pay out any 
of such money except upon warrants for school pur- 
poses. 

1763. SU'perint'endent must certify and report 
amount of school fund apportioned to the several coun- 
ties to the county superintendents of education. — As 
soon as practicable after the superintendent of educa- 
tion has apportioned to the several counties the amount 
of school funds in proportion to the number of school 
children of school age therein, he shall certify and re- 
port the amount to the respective county superintend- 
ents of education, or to the county board of education 
in case there is no county superintendent of education, 
taking their receipts for such amounts so certified. % 

1764. (3601) (1007) Interest on sixteenth-section or 
other trust fund first set apart; effect of apportionment. 
— In making the apportionment of school money to the 
several districts, the superintendent of education shall 
first set apart to each township or other school district 
the amount due from the State thereto as interest on its 
sixteenth-section fund, or other trust fund held by the 
State; and all townships or school districts, having an 
income from such source, or from the lease or sale of 
sixteenth-section lands, shall not receive anything out 
of the balance of the educational fund to be apportion- 
ed, until all other townships or school districts, having 
no trust fund, shall have received from the general fund 
such amount as will give them an equal per capita ap- 
portionment with the townships or districts having such 
income. 

1765. Apportionment of school funds to school dis- 
tricts of the several counties. — As soon as practicable 
after the superintendent of education has apportioned 
the school funds to the several counties and has certi- 
fied the same to the county superintendents of educa- 
tion, the county boards of education shall apportion the 
funds awarded to their county to the several school dis- 

2 S L 



34 

tricts in their counties, so as to provide, as nearly as 
practicable, school terms of equal duration in such 
school districts. 

1766. Report of apportionment hij county hoards of 
education to superintendent of education. — As soon as 
practicable after the county boards of education have 
apportioned the school funds of their county for any 
scholastic year to the several school districts, they shall 
report in writing their proceedings to the superintend- 
ent of education, showing the amounts apportioned to 
the several school districts. 

1767. County hoards must keep record of apportion- 
ment. — County boards of education must keep a record 
of each and every apportionment of school funds of 
their counties to the several school districts. 

1768. (3606) (1009) Apportionment recorded, 
and certified^ to county superintendents ; tahen contracts 
for schools invalid. — As soon as such apportionment is 
completed, the superintendent of education shall have 
the same recorded in his office, in books kept for that 
purpose, shoAving the amount which has been appor- 
tioned to each district, and the sources from which the 
same was derived, the amount to each district, and the 
number of children in the district upon which the ap- 
portionment was based; and he shall then furnish to 
each county superintendent of education a certified copy 
from such books, showing the dividends of the educa- 
tional fund to each township or district under the lat- 
ter's supervision; and the amount so divided and certi- 
fied shall be the total amount which each of such school 
districts shall be entitled to receive from the State, ex- 
cept the poll tax, during the current scholastic year; 
and no contract to pay for any school or schools, for any 
district more than the amount thus apportioned to it, 
together with such poll tax as it may receive, and such 
funds as maj be in hand from any previous year, shall 
be valid against the State or township. 



35 

1769. (3607) (1010) PoU tax received hy each 
county. — Each county shall receive as school money all 
the poll tax collected therein ; and the same shall be its 
full distributive share of the aggregate poll tax collect- 
ed in this State. 

1770. (3609) (1012) Amount due each county ap- 
portioned and. certified to auditor. — The superintendent 
of education shall, by the tenth day of October in each 
year, or as soon thereafter as practicable, apportion to 
every county the amount of school money such county 
will be entitled to receive for the scholastic year from 
all sources except such special tax, if any, levied for 
school purposes in any county; and he shall certify the 
same to the State auditor. * 

1771. (3610) County superintendent shall m<wke 
pay rolls. — On the fifteenth day of each month the coun- 
ty superintendents of education shall make in duplicate, 
for each race separately, a pay roll showing the names 
of all teachers engaged in teaching public schools in 
their counties, with their postoffice address, and the es- 
timated amount that will be due to each teacher at the 
end of the current month from the funds of each town- 
ship and range or district In its regular numerical or- 
der; and shall append thereto an affidavit that the same 
is correct. One of such duplicate pay rolls shall be re- 
tained by the county superintendent of education, and 
the other he shall forthwith forward to the superintend- 
ent of education, who shall examine the same, and if 
found correct, it shall be approved by him and filed with 
the State auditor, 

1772, (3611) State auditor shall draio tvarrant in 
favor of county superintendent. — The State auditor 
shall, immediately upon the receipt of such pay roll, 
draw a warrant on the State treasury in favor of the 
county superintendent of each county for a sum which 
will be equivalent to the amount estimated to be due on 
said pay roll, and four per cent thereon, and shall file 
said warrant, together with the pay roll upon which it 



36 

is based with tlie State treasurer, whereupon it shall be 
the duty of the State treasurer to forward by express or 
exchange, whichever way may be the cheapest, at the ex- 
pense of the State, to the county superintendent, the 
amount of such warrant, and the pay roll and duplicate 
receipts for said sum; provided, that whenever the war- 
rant and pay roll upon which it is based for any county 
is filed with the State treasurer, it shall be the duty of 
the treasurer to immediately ascertain from the tax col- 
lector of such county if he has State funds in hand suf- 
ficient to pay such warrant; and if he has, the State 
treasurer must forward such warrant, together with the 
pay roll, to the county superintendent, and upon re- 
ceipt of such warrant and pay roll the county superin- 
tendent shall present the warrant to the tax collector 
for payment, and the tax collector is authorized to cash 
such warrant when presented, properly endorsed, by the 
county superintendent, whereupon it shall be the duty 
of the tax collector to forward by mail such warrant, 
after indorsement by both the county superintendent 
and himself, to the State treasurer for credit on his ac- 
count with the State. The county superintendent of 
education must immediately upon receipt of said sum 
sign the duplicate receipts and return one to the treas- 
urer, who shall attach it to the appropriate warrant, 
and the other shall be returned to the auditor. 

1773. (3612) Teachers paid and receipts taken. — 
Immediately upon the receipt by the county superin- 
tendent of the amount of the monthly pay roll he shall 
pay the teachers, taking their receipt therefor on both 
copies of said pay roll, and must by the fifteenth day of 
each month return one copy of such receipted pay roll 
to the superintendent of education. Provided, that in 
case any teacher should fail to call for the amount due 
him (or her), the county superintendent of their respec- 
tive counties shall, at the expense and request of said 
teacher, mail the said teacher a registered letter or 
check on some bank in their respective counties for the 
amount due him; provided, that in no case shall the 
county superintendent pay a teacher or mail him a reg- 



istered letter or check unless the teacher's monthly re- 
port, duly certified to, is on file, 

1774. (3615) Balance in hands of cou7ity superin- 
tendent charged' to him. — Upon the return of the re- 
ceipted pay roll to the superintendent of education, if it 
should appear that there is a balance in the hands of 
the county superintendent, the amount of such balance 
shall be charged to him and shall be deducted from the 
amount of the next monthly pay roll. 

1775. (3616) County superintendent failing, must 
he removed. — Any county superintendent, or superin- 
tendent of any separate school district, who fails to 
make and return any pay roll required by this arftcle, 
or who fails to sign and return the receipts herein pro- 
vided for, or who fails to pay the teacher within fifteen 
days after the receipt by him of the money, or who fails 
to return the receipted pay roll, must be removed from 
office by the superintendet of education. 

1776. (3617) (1016) Apportionment and expend- 
iture, of local school money. — All local school funds 
raised for the support of public schools by taxation or 
otherwise shall be apportioned and expended in the dis- 
trict or districts or counties in which the same were 
raised, under such rules and regulations as the district 
trustees, or other local authority provided by law, may 
prescribe; but this section shall not be construed to re- 
peal any provision for the apportionment and disburse- 
ment of moneys mentioned in this chapter, or provided 
for in special or local laws; and all funds contributed 
by persons, or otheiiwise, to such district, shall be ap- 
plied as indicated in the grant from such contributors; 
and no school moneys distributed to the various coun- 
ties from the State school revenue shall, either directly 
or indirectly, be paid for the erection of schoolhouses, 
for the use of schoolroom furniture, or any other con- 
tingent expenses of schools. 



38 

1777. (3618) (1017) Apportionment of income 
from trust fund tchen township divided. — Whenever a 
township or district which has an income from a trust 
fund is divided by a State or county line, or otherwise, 
into separate districts, or includes a city which is a sep- 
arate school district, such income must be divided be- 
tween and apportioned to each school district in such 
township or district, according to the school population 
of each. 

1778. (3620) (1019) Fund once apportioned, not 
used for other purposes until reapportioned. — Funds 
which have accrued and have been apportioned to any 
district or race shall not be used for the benefit of any 
other district or race until the same shall have been re- 
apportioned under the provisions of this Code. 

1779. (3621) (1020) What part of income new 
districts are entitled to. — Whenever any separate school 
district is created, which shall embrace parts of tw^o or 
more districts, such district shall receive its propor- 
tionate share of the income from any trust fund belong- 
ing to either or both of such districts, according to its 
school population. 

1780. (3622) (1021) Contingent fund for depart- 
ment of education. — The State treasurer shall annual- 
ly set apart, out of any money in the treasury, the sum 
of one thousand dollars, as a contingent fund for the 
department of education ; and whenever it shall become 
necessary to draw on such fund, the superintendent of 
education shall certify the amount necessary, and for 
what purpose, to the auditor, who. shall draw his war- 
rant on the treasurer for such amount. The superin- 
tendent of education shall keep an accurate account of 
all sums which he shall certify to be paid out of such 
contingent fund, and shall furnish an itemized state- 
ment thereof to the governor each year, with his annual 
report. 



89 

ARTICLE 17. 

School Lands; Lease and Sale. 

1781. (3625) (1023) (962) (575) (501) What are 
school lands, and in wJiofn vested.— School lands, with- 
in the meaning of this Code, are sections numbered six- 
teen, in every township granted by the United States for 
the use of schools in the township, and such other lands 
as may have been granted to any township or district for 
the use of schools ;and all school lands are vested in the 
State in trust to execu.te the objects of the grant. 

(Note.— This article makes sales of sixteenth section 
and indemnity lands uniform.) 

% 

1782. (3661) Sale of school and indemnity lands 
authorized. — The superintendent of education is author- 
ized and empowered to sell and dispose of all school 
lands, together with those which have been heretofore 
or may hereafter be certified to the State for the use 
and benefit of the several townships or districts in 
which was a deficiency in the amount of land originally 
certified to the State for their benefit, subject to the ap- 
proval of the governor. 

1783. Consent of inhabitants of townsMj? or district 
to sale of land. — No school lands, except indemnity 
lands, shall be sold without the consent of the inhabi- 
tants of the township or district in which such lauds are 
located. Said consent to be obtained and shown by a 
petition in w^riting addressed to the superintendent of 
education requesting and consenting to the sale of such 
lands signed by a majority of the legally qualified vot- 
ers of the township or district, which petition must be 
verified by the affidavit of at least three of the signers, 
that a majority of the inhabitants of the township or 
district in which the lands are situated desire a sale 
thereof and that the persons making and signing said 
petition constitute a majority of the qualified electors 
residing in said township or district. 



40 

1784 (3646) (1044) (986) (607) (537) Resale 
of lands. — If any purchaser fails to make the payment, 
or give his notes with approved sureties, and secured 
by a mortgage on the land, as required, the land bid off 
by him must be immediately resold, if practicable, but 
if not practicable to make the resale at once, it must be 
resold at a future day, as if no sale had been made; and 
the first purchaser shall be responsible for the difference 
between his bid and the amount for which the land is 
subsequently sold, if such amount is less than the bid 
of such first purchaser. 

1785. (3662) Proceeds of sale; how disposed of. — 
The proceeds arising from such sales, after the payment 
of all proper costs and expenses thereof, shall be, by the 
superintendent of education, paid into the State treas- 
ury to the credit of the counties, townships, or school 
districts to which the same may belong in the propor- 
tion of their interest therein, so as to carry out the ob- 
ject and purposes of the original grants, gifts, or laws 
by which such lands were acquired for school pur^Doses, 
as nearly as practicable under the existing school laws. 

1786. (3663) 'Notes taken hy superintendent of ed- 
ucation held until paid; tvhen placed tcith the attorney 
general. — All notes taken by the superintendent of edu- 
cation for the purchase of such lands must be secured 
by mortgage and must be held by him until the same are 
due, and if not then paid, may be placed with the attor- 
ney-general for collection. 

1787. (3664) Manner and terms of sale. — Such 
sales may be made from time to time, at public or pri- 
vate sale, as in the judgment of the superintendent of 
education shall best promote the interest of the school 
fund of the State, and shall be for cash, or part cash 
and part on time, as the superintendent of education 
and the governor may deem best; but in no case shall 
there be less than one-fourth of the purchase money paid 
in cash, and the remainder shall be payable in yeai'ly in- 
stallments to extend over a period of not more than 



41 

three years, and shall be secured by notes with sureties 
and by mortgage on the land to be approved by the su- 
perintendent of education, and shall bear interest from 
the date of the sale. 

1788. (3626) (1025) (967) (588) (519) Tim- 
ber lots reserved. — The superintendent of education 
may select such lots as he thinks proper, to reserve 
from cultivation for the benefit of the timber thereon, 
and must mark the same "reserved" on the plat thereof. 

1789. (3631) (1030) (972) (593) (524) Timber 
lots; how used. — The lots reserved for timber are for the 
common benefit of the lessees of the other lots; but no 
timber must be cut down, injured, or destroyed, as€ong 
as there is sufficient on the other lots, which the super- 
intendent of education is to determine ;and the lessees 
must in no case cut down, injure, or detroy such timber 
without permission from the superintendent of educa- 
tion, which may be given on such such terms as he may 
think proper, having due regard to the interest of the 
township or district. 

1790. (3632) (1031) (973) (594) (525) Pemlty 
for injuries to timber. — Any person who, without au- 
thority, cuts down, boxes, injures, or destroys any tree 
on school lands shall forfeit and pay for every such tree 
ten dollars, to be recovered before any court having ju- 
risdiction, in the corporate name of the township, or 
the school district in which such lands are located. 

1791. (3633) (1032) (974) (595) (526) Fines paid 
into treasury for school fund. — All fines and forfeitures 
under the preceding section shall be paid into the State 
treasury, and added to the principal of the school fund 
of the township. 

1792. (3647) (1045) (987) (608) (538) Certificate 
purchase. — The superintendent of education, on receiv- 
ing from the purchaser the cash payment, and his notes 
and mortgages for the deferred payments, must give to 



42 

him a certificate of purchase, describing the lands pur- 
chased, and showing the number of acres and the amount 
of the purchase money. 

1793. (3648) (1046) (988) (609) (539) Effect of 
certificate of purchase. — Such certificate conveys to the 
purchaser, his heirs, or assigns, a conditional estate in 
fee, to become absolute on the payment of the purchase 
money and interest, and to revert to the State for the 
uses originally granted in the following cases: 

1. When all the notes have become due, and the mak- 
ers have left the State, or died insolvent. 

2. Wh6n a recovery on such notes is defeated by any 
defense avoiding the contract of sale. 

3. When a recovery is had against all the makers, 
and execution has been returned "no property" by the 
proper officer of the county in which the township or 
district lies ; or when judgment is had and execution re- 
turned against any one or more of such makers "no 
property," and the others have left the State, or died 
insolvent. 

1794. (3649) 1047) (989) (610) (540) Revesting 
of title; clerk to certify facts; penalty for failure; costs. 
— No proceeding is necessary to revest the title in the 
State On the happening of the events specified in the 
preceding section, but such lands may be recovered in 
the name of the State, for the use of the township or 
district, against any person in possession of the same, 
upon proof of the facts ;and it is the duty of the clerk of 
the court in which the suit is pending, or the judgment 
recovered, to certify the facts to the superintendent of 
education, on the happening of the events specified in 
the second and third subdivisions of the preceding sec- 
tion, and failing to do so within a reasonable time, he 
forfeits the sum of one hundred dollars ; one-half to the 
person suing for the same, and the other to the State 
for the use of the township ox district. When no money 
is recovered in suits on notes for purchase money of 
school lands, no costs must be taxed against the town- 
ship or district for such suits. 



43 

1795. (3651) (1049) (991) (613) (543) Fines go 
to school fund. — The amount received by the State up- 
on recoveries had under the last preceding section is to 
be added to the principal of the school fund of the town- 
ship or district. 

1796. (3652) (1050) (992) (614) (544) Patents. 
— A patent issues, on the payment of the purchase mon- 
ey, to the purchaser, his heirs, or assigns; and when 
the patent is to the heirs, it vests a title in all persons 
entitled to claim in that capacity under the provisions 
of this Code. 

1797. (3653) (1051) (993, 996) (615, 616) Issue 
of patent hy secretary of State; correction of mistake. 
— The secretary of state must issue patents, upon satis- 
factory evidence furnished him of full payment of pur- 
chase money, to any person, agent, or other officer le- 
gally authorized to receive such payment; and upon 
proof of a mistake in the issue of any patent, he must 
correct the same, or issue a new patent on the return of 
the original to his office. 

1798. (3654) (1052) (995) (617) (545) Issue of 
patents in other cases. — Except under the provisions of 
the preceding section, no patent must issue without the 
certificate of the superintendent of education that the 
whole amount of the purchase money specified in the cer- 
tificate, with all interest thereon, has been paid. 

1799. (3655) (1053) (998) Collection of p«st due 
notes. — All notes for school lands held by or deposited 
with the superintendent of education, if not paid within 
six months after maturity, must be placed with the at- 
torney-general for collection ; but this section shall not 
be so construed as to prevent the superintendent of edu- 
cation from ordering suit on notes at any time after ma- 
turity, when so ordered by the sureties on the notes. 

1800. (3656) (1054) (999) Appointment of agents 
for cellection of notes. — The superintendent of educa- 



44 

tion may appoint agents for surveying, mapping, or 
platting school lands and for the collection of notes for 
purchase money of land, being responsible for any neg- 
lect on the part of such agents. 

1801. (3657) (1055) (1000) Township credited 
ivith collection on notes. — All collections on notes given 
for the sale or lease of school lands must be paid into 
the treasury of the State, to the credit of the proper 
township or district. 

1802. (3658) Proceeds of school lands covered into 
treasury fa;ith and credit of State pledged for payment 
of interest. — All funds now in the State treasury de- 
rived from the sale of sixteenth-section or other school 
lands, or which may hereafter accrue from sales of such 
lands, together with the redemption money of other 
lands in which former accumulations have been invest- 
ed under an act approved March 1, 1881, entitled "An 
act to authorize the compromise and settlement of 
claims for school lands in this State," are covered into 
the State treasury and made available for general pur- 
poses; and the faith and credit of the State is pledged 
for the payment of the interest on such fund to the pub- 
lic schools of the State, at the rate of six per cent per 
annuro^. 

1803. (3665) Lease of school and indemnity lands. 
— The superintendent of education may, with the ap- 
proval of the governor, lease out all or any of the school 
or indemnity lands for a term not exceeding five years, 
or may enter into contracts permitting persons to mine 
ore, coal, or other minerals therefrom, upon a royalty, 
for a term not exceeding twenty years ; and the net pro- 
ceeds of all moneys received from the lease of such lands, 
or as a royalty for the minerals mined therefrom, shall 
be paid into the State treasury monthly, to the credit 
of the townships to which such lands belong in the pro- 
portion of their interest therein. 



45 

1804. Compromise; hoard of, as to school lands. — 
The governor, superintendent of education, and attor- 
ney-general are constituted" a board of compromise for 
the purpose of examining into the title or claim of the 
State to any sixteenth-section or other school lands 
which have illegally passed out of the possession of the 
State, or which have heretofore been disposed of by the 
State and not paid for. The board may take all action 
necessary to recover any such lands, or, if deemed best, 
may settle and compromise any conflicting claims there- 
to between the State and persons claiming the land. 
When any compromise or settlement is made the secre- 
tary of State shall, upon the order of the board of com- 
promise, issue patents to the land the claims to which 
have been so compromised. 



AETICLE 18. 
Text-book Commission; Members^ Appointment of. 

1805. Text-hook commission; hoto constituted. — On 
or before March 1st, 1908, the governor shall select and 
appoint nine educators of known character and ability, 
men well acquainted with arranging courses of study 
and engaged in public school work, one from each con- 
gressional district, who, together with himself and the 
State superintendent of education, shall constitute the 
text-book commission of Alabama. 

1806. Oath of commissioners. — Before transacting 
any business pertaining to the duties of this commis- 
sion, they shall each take an oath before some person 
authorized to administer oaths, to faithfully discharge 
all the duties imposed upon them as members of said 
text-book commission, and that they have no interest, 
directly or indirectly, in any contract that may be made 
under this article, and receive no personal benefit there- 
from. 



46 

1807. Commission; organization of. — The text-book 
commission shall immediately after their appointment 
meet and organize, the governor being president of the 
commission and the superintendent of education secre- 
tary of said commission. 

1808. Duties of commission. — It shall be the duty of 
said commission to select and adopt a uniform series 
of text-books for use in the public schools of the State 
for a period of five years. 

1809. Unlatcful to use other hooks than those select- 
ed. — It shall be unlawful for any school oflQ.cial, di- 
rector, or teacher to use any books upon the same 
branches other than those adopted by said State text- 
book commission. 

1810. Branches of study for tvhich hooks selected. — 
Said uniform series shall include the following branch- 
es of study, to wit: Orthography, reading, writing, 
arithmetic, geography, grammar, language lessons, his- 
tory of Alabama containing the constitution of the 
State, history of the United States, elementary physi- 
ology and hygiene, elementary principles of agriculture, 
and such other branches of study as jDroperly belong in 
a common school course. 

1811. Partisan or sectarian hooks forhidden. — None 
of said text-books shall contain anything of a partisan 
or sectarian character. 

1812. Books selected may he dropped. — The text- 
book commission shall have the power by three-fourths 
vote to drop an unsatisfactory book at the end of any 
school year during the continuance of the contract and 
to make another adoption. 

1813. Qualities and merits of hooks to control in se- 
lection. — The text-book commission shall consider the 
merits of each book, taking into consideration their sub- 
ject-matter, the printing, binding, material, and me- 



47 

chanical qualities, and their general suitability and de- 
sirability for the purpose intended, as well as the price 
of said books, but no text-book the subject-matter of 
which is of inferior quality shall be adopted by- the text- 
book commission. Said commission shall select and 
adopt such books as will, in their best judgment, ac- 
complish the ends desired. 

1814. Desira^ble hooks; when price too high. — In case 
any book or books are deemed suitable for adoption and 
more desirable than other books of the same class sub- 
mitted, and they further consider the price at which 
the books are offered to be unreasonably high, and that 
they should be offered at a smaller price, the commis- 
sion shall immediately notify the publisher or author 
of such book or books of their decision, and request such 
reduction in price as they deem reasonable and just, and 
if they and such publishers shall agree on a price they 
may adopt his book or books, but if not, they shall use 
their own sound judgment and discretion whether they 
will adopt that or the books which are deemed by them 
next best in the list published. 

1815. Advertisennent for hids. — As soon as practica- 
ble, not later than thirty days after its organization, the 
commission shall advertise in such manner and for such 
length of time and at such places as may be deemed ad- 
visable, that at a time and place fixed definitely in said 
advertisement, sealed bids or proposals will be received 
from the publishers of school text-books for furnishing 
books to the public schools in the State of Alabama, 
through such agencies in the several counties, and 
places in the several counties in the State, as njay be 
provided for in such regulations as said commission 
may adopt and prescribe. 

1816. Bids; specifications, requisites, and contents 
of. — The bids or proposals shall be for furnishing the 
books for a period of five years and no longer, and that 
no bid for a longer period will be considered. Said bids 
shall state specifically and definitely the price at which 



48 

the books will be furnished, and shall be accompanied 
by one or more specimen copies of each and every book 
proposed to be furnished. 

1817. Deposit as security for performance of hid. — 
It shall be required of each bidder to deposit with the 
treasurer of the State a sum of money such as the com- 
mission may require, not less than five hundred dollars 
nor more than twenty-five hundred dollars, according 
to the number of books each bidder may propose to sup- 
ply, and notice shall further be given in such advertise- 
ment that such deposits shall be forfeited absolutely to 
the State if the bidder making the deposit shall fail or 
refuse to make and execute such contract and bond as 
is hereinafter required, within such time as the com- 
mission may require, which time shall also be stated in 
the advertisement. 

1818. Bids sealed and deposited. — All bids shall be 
sealed and deposited with the secretary of State, to be 
by him delivered to the commission when they are in ex- 
ecutive session, for the purpose of considering the same, 
when they shall be opened in the presence of the com- 
mission. 

1819. Bids opened^ ea^amined, and contract awarded. 
— The text-book commission shall meet at the time and 
place designated in such notice or advertisement, and 
take out the sample or specimen copies submitted upon 
which the bids are based. When the members have ex- 
amined all books submitted until thoroughly satisfied, 
it shall be the duty of said text-book commission to meet 
in executive session to open and examine all sealed pro- 
posals submitted and received in pursuance of the no- 
tice or advertisement provided for in section 1815 of 
this Code. The commission shall then examine and 
carefully consider such bids or proposals and determine 
in the manner provided in the preceding sections of this, 
article what book or books shall be selected for adop- 
tion, taking into consideration the size, quality as to 
subject-mater, material, printing, binding, and the me- 



49 

chanical execution and price, and the general suitabil- 
ity for the purpose desired and intended; all books se- 
lected and adopted shall be written or printed in Eng- 
lish. 

1820. Notification to piiblisliers of contracts aioard- 
ed. — After their selection for adoption shall have been 
made, the said commission shall by registered letter no- 
tify the publishers or proposers to whom the contracts 
have been awarded. 

1821. Contract; preparation, execution, and filing of. 
— The attorney-general of the State shall prepare the 
said contract or contracts in accordance with the terms 
and provisions of this article, and the said cdfctract 
shall be executed by the governor and secretary of State 
with the seal of the State attached upon the part of the 
State of Alabama, and the said contract shall be exe- 
cuted in triplicate, one copy to be kept by the contract- 
or, one copy by the secretary of the text-book commis- 
sion and copied in full in the minutes of said com- 
mission, and one copy to be filed in the office of the 
secretary of State. 

1822. Bond of contractw^; preparation, execution, 
and conditions of. — At the time of the execution of the 
contract aforesaid the contractors shall enter into a 
bond in the sum of not less than ten thousand dollars 
nor more than thirty thousand dollars, payable to the 
State of Alabama, the amount of said bond within said 
limits to be fixed by said commission conditioned for 
the faithful, honest, and exact performance of the con- 
tract, and shall further provide for the payment of rea- 
sonable attorney's fees in case of recovery in any suit 
upon the same, with three or more good, solvent sure- 
ties, actual citizens and residents of the State of Ala- 
bama, or any guaranty company authorized to do bus- 
iness in the State of Alabama may become surety on 
said bond. The attorney-general shall prepare said 
bond and approve the same. The said bond shall not be 
exhausted by a single recovery, but may be sued on from 



50 

time to time until the full amount shall be recovered; 
and the said commission may at any time, by giving 
thirty days' notice, require additional security or addi- 
tional bond, within the limits prescribed. 

1823. Deposit returned after exemition of hond. — 
When any person, firm, or corporation shall have been 
awarded a contract and submitted therewith the bond 
as required in this article, the commission through its 
secretary shall so inform the treasurer of the State, and 
the treasurer shall return such contractor the cash de- 
posit made by him, and the commission through :ts sec- 
retary shall inform the treasurer of the names of the un- 
successful bidders or proposers, and the treasurer shall, 
upon receipt of this notice, return to them the amount 
deposited in cash by them at the time of the submission 
of their bid. 

1824. Failure to execute contract or 'bond; conse- 
quence of. — Should any person, firm, company, or cor- 
poration fail or refuse to execute the contract and sub- 
mit therewith his bond as required by this article with- 
in thirty days of the awarding of the contract to him 
and the mailing of the registered letter containing the 
notice (provided the mailing of the registered letter 
shall be sufficient evidence that the notice was given and 
received), the cash deposit will be deemed forfeited to 
the State of Alabama, and the treasurer shall place such 
cash deposit in the treasury of the State to the credit of 
the general school fund. 

1825. Recovery on 'bond, for 'benefit of fund. — Any re- 
covery had on any bond given by any contractor shall 
inure to the benefit of the said fund of the State, and 
when collected shall be placed in the treasury to the 
credit of the said fund and be prorated among the sev- 
eral counties of the State. 

1826. Books furnished must he equal to specimens. 
— The books furnished under any contract shall at all 



51 

times during the existence of the contract be equal to, 
in all respects, the specimens or sample copies furnished 
with bids. 

1827. Secretary of State preserves sample copies and 
furnishes to superintendent. — The secretary of State 
shall carefully preserve in his office as the standard of 
quality and excellence to be maintained in such books 
during the continuance of such contracts the specimens 
or sample copies of all books which have been made the 
basis of any ccntiact, together with the original bid or 
proposal, and the contractor shall also furnish each 
county superintendent of education like specimen or 
sample copies, which shall be preserved by him in like 
manner, and the same shall always be open to iijie in- 
spection of the public. 

1828. Contract and excliamge price printed on hack 
of hooks. — All contractors shall print on the back of 
each book the contract price, as well as the exchange 
price at which it is agreed to be furnished, but the books 
submitted as specimen or sample copies with the orig- 
inal bids shall not have the price printed on them before 
they are submitted to the commission. 

1829. Price of hooks for this State shall not exceed 
that of others. — The text-books commission shall not in 
any case contract with any person or publisher for the 
use of any books which are to be sold to patrons or used 
in any public school in this State at a price above or in 
excess of the price at which such book or books are fur- 
nished by said person or publisher under contract to any 
State, county, or school district in the United States un- 
der like conditions prevailing in this State and under 
this article. It shall be stipulated in each contract that 
the contractor has never furnished and is not now fur- 
nishing under contract any State, county, or school dis- 
trict in the United States where like conditions prevail 
as are prevailing in this State under this article, the 
same book or books as are embraced in said contract at 
a price below or less than the price stipulated in the 



52 

said contract, and the said commission at any time they 
may find that any book has been furnished at a lower 
price under contract to any State, county, or school dis- 
trict aforesaid, shall sue upon the bond of said contract- 
or and recover the difference between the contract price 
and the lower price at which they find the book or books 
have seen sold, and in case a contractor shall fail to exe- 
cute, specifically, the terms and provisions of his con- 
tract, said commission shall bring suit upon the bond 
of such contractor for the recovery of damages, the suit 
to be in the name of the State of Alabama, and the re- 
covery for the benefit of the public school fund. 

1830. Changing or altering contract. — The commis- 
sion and any contractor agreeing thereto may in any 
manner change or alter any contract, provided a major- 
ity of the commission shall agree to the change and 
think it advisable and for the best interest of the public 
schools of the State. 

1831. Majority controls. — In all matters unless oth- 
erwise provided a majority of said commission shall 
control. 

1832. State not liahle to any contractor. — It shall al- 
ways be a part of the terms and conditions of every con- 
tract made in pursuance of this article, that the State 
of Alabama shall not be liable to any contractor in any 
manner, in any sum whatsoever, but all such con- 
tractors shall receive their pay or consideration in com- 
pensation solely and exclusively derived from the pro- 
ceeds of the sale of books, as provided for in this article. 

1833. Old books exchanged for new. — The commis- 
sion shall stipulate in the contract for the supplying of 
any book as provided in this article that the contractor 
or contractors shall take up the school books now in use 
in this State, and receive the same in exchange for new 
books at a price not less than fifty per cent of the con- 
tract price. Such exchange period shall not continue 
longer than one year from the date of contract. Each 



53 

person or publisher making a bid for the supplying of 
any book or books under this article shall state in such 
bid or proposal the exchange price at which such book 
or books will be furnished. 

1834. Rejecting Mds or proposals. — The text-book 
commission shall have and reserve the right to reject 
any and all bids or proposals if they shall be of opinion 
that any or all should for any reason be rejected. 

1835. Re-advertisement for bids. — In case the com- 
mission fails from among the bids or proposals to select 
or adopt any book or books upon any of the branches 
mentioned in previous sections of this article, they may 
re-advertise for sealed bids or proposals under th%same 
terms and conditions as before, and proceed in their in- 
vestigations in all respects as they did in the first in- 
stance, and as required by the terms and provisions of 
this article. 

1836. Bids for copyright and manuscripts. — The 
commission may advertise for sealed bids or proposals 
from authors or publishers of text-books who have man- 
uscripts of books not yet published, for prices at which 
they will publish and furnish in book form such manu- 
scripts, or for prices at which they will sell such man- 
uscripts, together with the copyright with such books, 
for use in the public schools of Alabama, proceeding in 
all respects in like manner as before. Before accepting 
or rejecting ai>y manuscript it shall be the duty of the 
commission to take the manuscripe and advertise for 
sealed bids or proposals for publishing the same in book 
form, in like manner as provided in this article, and un- 
der the same restriction and condition, and the contract 
may be let for the publication of all such books or for 
any one or more separately. The State itself shall not 
under any circumstances enter into any contract bind- 
ing it to pay for the publication of any book or books, 
but in the contract with the owner of the manuscript it 
shall be provided that he shall pay the compensation to 
the publisher for the publication and putting in book 



54 

form the manuscript, together with the cost and expense 
of copyrighting the same ;and. provided that in all cases 
bids or proposals shall be accompanied with the cash 
deposit of from five hundred to twenty-five hundred dol- 
lars, as the commission may direct, and as previously 
provided in this article. 

1837. Manuscripts or printed form of matter pro- 
posed to l>e incorporated in hook. — Any person, firm, or 
corporation now doing business, or proposing to do bus- 
iness in the State, shall have the right to bid for the 
contract to be awarded under this article in the manner 
as follows: In response to the advertisement, when 
made as hereinabove provided, said person, firm, or cor- 
poration may submit in writing bid or bids to edit or 
have edited, publish and supply for use in the public 
schools in this State, any book or books herein provided 
for, provided that instead of filing with said bid or pro- 
posals a sample or specimen copy of each book propos- 
ed to be furnished, he may exhibit to the commission a 
manuscript or printed form of the matter proposed to 
be incorporated in any book, together with such a de- 
scription and illustration of the form and style thereof 
as would be fully intelligible and satisfactory to said 
commission, or they may submit a book or books, the 
equal of which in every way they propose to furnish, 
and they shall accompany their bid or proposal with the 
cash deposit and execute a contract and bond as herein- 
before provided. 

1838. Proclamation of governor announcing con- 
tract. — As soon as said commission shall have entered 
into a contract or contracts for the furnishing or sup- 
plying of books for use in the public schools in this 
State, the governor shall issue his proclamation an- 
nouncing such facts to the people of the State. 

1839. Three depositaries or places of sale in each 
county. — The party or parties with whom the contract 
shall be made shall place their books on sale at not less 
than three places in each countv of the State for the 



55 

distribution of the books to the patrons, and the con- 
tractor shall be permitted to make arrangements with 
a merchant or other person for the handling and distri- 
bution of the books. 

1840. Contract price printed on hooks. — All books 
shall be sold to the consumer at the retail contract 
price, and in each book shall be printed the following : 
(The price fixed herein is fixed by State contract and 
deviations therefrom shall be reported to your county 
superintendent of education or the State superintendent 
at Montgomery). Should any party contracting to fur- 
nish books as provided for fail to furnish them or oth- 
erwise breach his contract, in addition to the right of 
the State to sue on his bond hereinabove requiTf%, the 
county superintendent of any county may sue, in the 
name of the State of Alabama, in any court of compe- 
tent jurisdiction in the county in which he resides, for 
the use and benefit of the school fund of the county; 
provided that the right of action of the county superin- 
tendent shall be limited to breaches of the contract com- 
mitted in the county of his residence. In all cases under 
this article service of process may be had and deemed 
sufiicient on any agent of the contractor in this State. 

1841. Distribution of hooks. — The commission shall, 
from time to time, make any necessary regulations to 
secure the prompt distribution of the books provided for 
in this article, and the prompt and faithful execution 
of all contracts. 

1842. Commission continues for five years; new 
coymmission appointed. — Said commission shall main- 
tain its organization for five years, and at the end of 
said period of five years the governor shall name a sim- 
ilar commission with like powers and a like term as the 
first named commission. 

1843. List of hooks, agencies, and prices furnished to 
county superintendent of education. — As soon as pract- 
icable after the adoption, provided for in this article. 



DO 

the State superintendent of education shall issue a cir- 
cular letter to each county superintendent of education 
and each teacher in the State, and to such others as he 
may desire to send it, which letter shall contain the list 
of books adopted, the prices, location of agencies, the 
manner of distribution, and such other information as 
he may deem necessary . 

J844. Supijlementary text-hooks; hooks for higher 
or more advanced studies. — x\s soon as the existing con- 
tract for books expires the books adopted as a uniform 
series of text-books for the next five years shall be in- 
troduced and used as text-books to the exclusion of all 
others in all the public free schools in this State. Sup- 
plementary books shall be used, but such books shall not 
be used to the exclusion of the books prescribed or 
adopted under the provisions of this article. Higher or 
more advanced branches may be taught than provided 
in this article, but such higher branches or books shall 
not be taught to the exclusion of the branches or books 
mentioned in this article. 

1845. Other hooks used upon failure to furnish 
those adopted. — The patrons of the public schools 
throughout the State may procure books in the usual 
way in case no contract shall be made, or the contractor 
fails or refuses to furnish the books provided for in this 
article at the time required for their use in the respec- 
tive schools. 

1846. Appropriation. — The sum of three thousand 
dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be 
paid out of the moneys in the treasury not otherwise ex- 
pended, is appropriated for the purpose of paying the 
costs and expenses of carrying into effect the provisions 
of this article. 

1847. Compensation of commissioners. — The govern- 
or and superintendent of education shall serve on the 
commission without compensation, and the other mem- 
bers of the commission shall be paid the sum of four dol- 



57 

lars per day during the time they are actually engaged, 
and in addition shall receive ten cents per mile for each 
mile traveled from their homes to their place of meet- 
ing and return thereto, to be paid out of the funds ap- 
propriated by the preceding section, and they shall each 
make and swear to a statement of the number of miles 
traveled and the number of days actually engaged. 

1848. Clerk of commission; compensation of. — The 
commission may appoint a clerk who shall have three 
dollars per diem during the time he is actually engaged 
and the same mileage as is allowed the members of the 
commission. 

1849. Books adopted continue for five yearst^-ThQ 
adoption made as provided for in this article shall con- 
tinue for five years from the expiration of the existing 
contract, unless otherwise provided. 

1850. Failure to furnish hooks; contract for unew- 
pirod term,. — In case of the failure of any contractor to 
furnish the books as provided in his contract, his bond 
shall be declared forfeited, and the State school-book 
commission may make such other contract for the unex- 
pired term with another person to provide such books 
as they may deem advisable for the best interest of the 
State. 



AKTICLE 19. 

Election for Special Tax for Public Schools. 

1851. 'Petition for call for election. — Upon a petition 
signed by two hundred or more qualified electors of the 
county who are also freeholders, to the court of county 
commissioners, or court of like jurisdiction in any coun- 
ty within the State of Alabama, the said court shall or- 
der an election to determine whether or not a special 
tax shall be levied for the support of the public schools 



58 

within said county as hereinafter provided ; but only one 
such election shall be held in any two years. 

1852. Notice and publication. — There shall be made 
publication of the same in some newspaper within the 
county, which publication shall show the rate of such 
proposed tax, the time it is proposed to be continued, 
and the purpose for which the levy is proposed to be 
made. 

1853. Managers and officers of election as in generwl 
election. — The inspectors and officers of the election 
shall be appointed and such elections shall be held and 
the result of said elections shall be declared in the same 
manner and by the same officers as is the result of the 
regular elections for county officers under the general 
laws of the State. 

1854. Qualified electors^ etc. — All persons who are 
at the time of such election qualified electors in the 
county where such election is held under the laws and 
constitution of Alabama then in existence, shall be qual- 
ified electors to participate therein. 

1855. Ballot; form and manner of voting. — The 
court of county commissioners, or court of like juris- 
diction, shall provide a sufficient number of ballots for 
each voting precinct within said county, and at the top 
of each ballot shall be printed the rate of such proposed 
tax, the time is is to be continued, and that the purpose 
is for the support of the public schools, and directly un- 
derneath in plain type shall be printed on different lines 
the words "For proposed taxation," "Against proposed 
taxation," and a place must be left directly to the left 
of each line thereof, and the voters favoring the pro- 
posed taxation will make a cross mark directly to the 
left of the line "For proposed taxation," and the voter 
not favoring proposed taxation will make a cross mark 
directly to the left of the line "Against proposed taxa- 
tion." 



59 

1856. Special tax levied mid assessed. — If three- 
fifths of those voting at said election have voted for the 
proposed taxation, the court of county commissioners, 
or court of like jurisdiction, shall levy said special tax, 
and cause the tax assessor to assess the same on the tax- 
able property in said county, which shall not exceed ten 
cents On each one hundred dollars of taxable property 
in said county ; but the rate of such special tax shall not 
increase the rate of taxation. State and county com- 
bined, in any one year, to more than one dollar and 
twenty-five cents on each one hundred dollars of taxa- 
ble property in said county, but all special county taxes 
for public buildings, roads, bridges, and the payment of 
debts existing at the ratification of the constitution of 
1875 shall not be included in the aforesaid one dollar 
and tw^enty-five cents on the one hundred dollars of tax- 
able property. 

1857. Time taw continues. — The time such special 
tax may continue shall not be less than two years. 

1858. Ta/js; how collected and disbursed. — The tax 
collector shall collect such special tax in the same man- 
ner and under the same requirements and laws as taxes 
of the State are collected, and he shall keep said 
amount separate and apart from all other funds, and 
keep a clear and distinct account thereof, showing what 
amount is paid by the negro race and what amount is 
paid by the white race, and turn the same over to the 
county superintendent of education, whose duty it shall 
be to receipt therefor and apportion the same to the va- 
rious schools throughout the county in the same man- 
ner as the general school fund from the State are ap- 
portioned in said county; provided, that the school 
terms of the respective schools shall be extended by such 
supplement as nearly the same length of time as pract- 
icable. 

1859. Election hekl at time for general election; 
costs of snch election. — The election hereinbefore pro- 
vided for may be had at the time of holding any regular 



60 

election within the county, and if held at such time the 
inspectors and officers of the general election shall con- 
duct at the same time the election herein provided for; 
and for such services they shall receive no compensa- 
tion other than that allowed them for the holding of 
the general election; but if such an el^ection is had at 
any other time than that of holding a regular election 
within the county, then the election officers shall re- 
ceive the same pay as that for holding a general elec- 
tion. 

1860. Compensation of ta<D collector, taw assessor^ 
and county superintendent of education. — The tax col- 
lector, tax assessor, and county superintendent of edu- 
cation shall receive for the services required of them 
under the provisions of this article the same per cent of 
the funds handled as they receive for like services as to 
general taxes. 



ARTICLE 20. 
High Schools for Counties. 

1861. High school commission to locate and estab- 
lish. — The governor, auditor, and superintendent of ed- 
ucation shall constitute a commission to locate one high 
school in each of the counties of this State; provided, 
that a high school shall not be established under the pro- 
visions of this article in any county in which there is 
already established an agricultural school, normal 
school for white people, the Polytechnic Institute, the 
University of Alabama, the Industrial School for White 
Girls, or a high school free to all the children of the 
county, until after a high school has been established in 
all the other counties. 

1862. 8ites procured; annual donations paid quar- 
terly. — For any county in which the citizens thereof 
shall secure a. suitable site, which shall consist of not 
less than five acres of land the title to the surface of 



Gl 

whicli shall be in fee (but the land need not mcliide 
mieral rights), and erect thereon a good and substan- 
tial building with all the necessary equipments for a 
high school, the cost of said land, building, and equip- 
ments to be not less than five thousand dollars, and up- 
on making a deed to the State of Alabama of said land, 
building, and equipments, there shall be appropriated 
out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appro- 
priated the sum of two thousand dollars for the pay- 
ment of the teachers in said high school or high schools 
complying with the provisions of this article, and this 
appropriation is hereby made to continue annually, the 
same to be paid quarterly upon warrants drawn by the 
county board of education in the county in which said 
high school is located, said warrant or warrants*to be 
subject to the approval of the commission hereinbefore 
created; provided further, that none of said two thous- 
and dollars shall be devoted to any other purpose what- 
ever than the payment of teachers' salaries. 

1863. Bigh schools controlled hi/ high school com- 
mission and county board of education. — Said school or 
schools as hereinbefore established shall be under the 
direction and control of the said commission as a board 
of trustees in connection with the board of education in 
the county in which said high school is located. 

1864. Free schools and office of trustee not abol- 
ished. — Nothing in this article shall be so construed as 
to abolish any free school in any district, or the office 
of trustee in any district in which said high school may 
be located. 

1865. QualiflcaUons and eligibility of teachers and 
students. — No teacher shall be eligible to teach in any 
high school established under the provisions of this ar- 
ticle, unless holding a first-grade or life certificate. Nor 
shall any student be eligible to entrance into said high 
school unless said student can pass a satisfactory exam- 
ination in the branches of free public instruction in the 
elementary schools of his or her county. Such schools 



62 

shall be open to students of the white race regardless of 
age who have complied with the provisions of this sec- 
tion. 

1866. Course of study. — A course of study for such 
school or schools shall be provided and required by the 
superintendent of education; but such course of study 
shall consist of secondary branches of study. 

1867. Matriculation fee. — A matriculation fee of one 
dollar may be charged to each student to defray neces- 
sary expenses during each term. 

1868. When article goes into effect. — This article 
shall not go into effect until the governor shall decide 
that the condition of the treasury will admit of the ap- 
propriation herein made. 



ARTICLE 21. 

University of Alabama. 

1869. (3667) (1058) (1295) Incorporation of uni- 
versity. — The governor and the superintendent of edu- 
cation, by virtue of their respective offices, and the trus- 
tees heretofore appointed from the different congres- 
sional districts of the State under the provisions of sec- 
tion 264 of the constitution, and such other members as 
may be from time to time added to the board of trus- 
tees, and their successors in office, are constituted a 
body corporate under the name of "The board of trus- 
tees of the University of Alabama," to carry into effect 
the purposes and intent of the congress of the United 
States in the grant of lands by the act of April 20, 1818, 
and of the act o.f March 2, 1819, to this State, to be by 
it held and administered for the benefit of a seminary 
of learning. 

1870. (3668) (1059) (1296) Genaral powers, du- 
ties, and liabilities of such corporation. — Such corpora- 



63 

tion shall have all the rights, powers, and franchises 
necessary to or promotive of the end of its creation, and 
shall be charged with all the corresponding duties, lia- 
bilities, and responsibilities. 

1871. (3669) (1060) (1297) Poiver of holding and 
disposing of property. — Such corporation may hold, 
and may lease, sell, or in any other manner not incon- 
sistent with the objects or terms of the grant or grants 
under which it holds, dispose of any property, real or 
personal, or any estate or interest therein, remaining of 
the original or any subsequent grant by congress, or by 
this State, or by any person, or accruing to the corpor- 
ation from any source, including also the proceeds of 
the "University Fund," as to it may seem best fdr the 
purposes of its institution. 

1872. (3670) (1061) (1298) University fund de- 
fined; credit of State pledged for payment of interest. 
— The fund designated in the preceding section as the 
"University Fund" consists of the sum of thirty-six 
thousand dollars per annum as interest on the funds of 
the University of Alabama, heretofore covered into the 
treasury, for the maintenance and support of said insti- 
tution, which said sum of thirty-six thousand dollars 
shall be paid to the duty authorized agent of the uni- 
versity as hereinafter provided; and the further sum of 
twenty-five thousand dollars, annually, is added to and 
made a part of the university fund. 

1873. (3671) (1062) (1299) When gift or grant 
not affected; tohat not a forfeiture. — No grant or gift, 
by will or otherwise, shall fail on account of any mis- 
nomer or informality, when the intention of the grantor 
or donor can be ascertained ; nor shall any default, mal- 
feasance on the part of the trustees or other officers or 
agents of such corporation, work a forfeiture of any of 
its lights, powers, privileges, or franchises. 

1874. (3672) (1063) (1300) Rights, etc., of univer- 
sity continued in corporation. — In addition to the 



64 

rights, properties, privilegeSj, and franchises herein 
granted, all rights, properties, privileges, and franchises 
heretofore, b}^ any act of the legislature, granted to or 
vested in the University of Alabama, shall vest and con- 
tinue in such corporation. 

1875. (3673) (1064) (1301) Powers of hoard of 
trustees; no eccclusion from benefit of '^U^iwersity 
Fund" etc. — The board of trustees have the power to 
organize the university by appointing a corps of in- 
structors, who shall be styled the faculty of the univer- 
sity, and such other officers as the interest of the univer- 
sity may require; to remove such instructors or of- 
ficers, and to fix their salaries or compensation, and in- 
crease or reduce the same at their discretion; to insti- 
tute, regulate, alter, or modify the government of the 
university, as they may deem advisable; to prescribe 
courses of instruction, rates of tuition, price of board, 
and regulate the necessary expenses of students ; and to 
confer such academic and honorary degrees as are usu- 
ally conferred by literary institutions. They may dele- 
gate to the facultv of the universitv, or other officers, 
such powers and functions in the government of the 
students, and in the administration of the affairs of the 
university, as they may deem proper ;but in no case 
shall any person l3e authorized to receive, hold, or dis- 
burse any funds of the university without having first 
given bond, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his 
duties; and no person shall be excluded from the full 
benefit of the university fund, or placed at any disad- 
vantage in the pursuit of his studies, who possesses the 
requisite literary and other qualifications, and is willing 
to submit to the discipline prescribed the students. 

1876. (3674, 3675) (1065, 1066) (1302, 1303) Class- 
ification of ' trustees ; term and oath of office. — The State 
university shall be under the control of the board of 
trustees, which shall consist of two members from the 
congressional district in which the university is located, 
and one from each of the other congressional districts 
in the State, the superintendent of education, and the 



65 

goYemor, who shall be ex officio president of the board. 
The members of the board of trustees, as now constitu- 
ted, shall hold office until their respective terms expire 
under existing law, and until their successors shall be 
elected and confirmed, as hereinafter required. Suc- 
cessors to those trustees whose terms expire in nineteen 
hundred and two shall hold office until nineteen hun- 
dred and seven; successors to those whose terms expire 
in nineteen hundred and four shall hold office until 
nineteen hundred and eleven; successors to those trus- 
tees whose terms expire in nineteen hundred and six 
shall hold office until nineteen hundred and fifteen ; and 
thereafter their successors shall hold office for a term 
of twelve years. When the term of any member of such 
board shall expire, the remaining members of the J)oard 
shall, by secret ballot, elect his successor, provided, that 
any trustee so elected shall hold office from the date of 
his election until his confirmation or rejection by the 
senate, and, if confirmed, until the expiration of the 
term for which he was elected, and until his successor 
is elected. At every meeting of the legislature the su- 
perintendent of education shall certify to the senate the 
names of all who have been so elected since the last ses- 
sion of the legislature and the senate shall confirm or re- 
ject them, as it shall determine is for the best interest of 
the university. If it reject the names of any member, 
it shall thereupon elect trustees in the stead of tliose re- 
jected. In case of a vacancy on said board by death or 
resignation of a member, or from any cause other than 
the expiration of his term of office, the board shall elect 
his successor, who shall hold office until the next ses- 
sion of the legislature. When the name of a successor 
or successors elected by said board to fill the vacancy 
or vacancies so occasioned shall be certified by the su- 
perintendent of education to the senate, and the senate 
shall confirm or reject, as it shall determine is for the 
best interest of the university ; and if confirmed by the 
senate, the person or persons so elected to fill said va- 
cancy shall hold office for the unexpired term to which 
he is so elected. If the senate rejects the name of any 
person to fill said vacancy, it shall thereupon elect some 
3 s L 



66 

person or persons in the stead of those rejected. No 
trustee shall receive any pay or emolument other than 
his actual expenses incurred in the discharge of his du- 
ties as such. 

1877. (3676) (1067) (1304) Quorum of hoard of 
trustees; president pro tempore. — Five members of the 
board of trustees, exclusive of the ex-officio members, 
shall constitute a quorum, and every member present 
shall be required to vote, and a majority of those pres- 
ent shall govern. At their first meeting^ the board shall 
elect one of their number president pro tempore, who 
shall preside in the absence of the governor, and shall 
hold the position until the next annual or special meet- 
ing, when another president pro tempore shall be elect- 
ed. 

1878. (3677) (1068) (1303,1304) Time and place of 
meetings of trustees. — The board of trustees shall meet 
at least once in each year, and on the last 
Wednesday in June, unless some other day is 
selected by them, and they may, by ordinance 
or resolution adopted by them, prescribe other 
:regU)lar times for meeting. At such meetings 
they may continue in session as long as they may 
deem proper for the welfare of the institution, and may 
at any session appoint a special or adjourned meeting. 
Upon the written application of four members, or of any 
three members with his concurrence, the president pro 
tempore shall appoint a special meeting, and issue no- 
tice thereof to the several members; but such special 
meeting shall not be appointed for a day less than twen- 
ty days subsequent to the date of the notice. In case 
there is no president pro tempore of the board, or in 
case he is incapacitated to act, then the governor, as 
president of the board, shall, upon the written applica- 
tion of four members, in like manner call such special 
meeting. Eegular meetings of the board must be held 
at the university, but special or adjourned meetings 
may be held at the university or in the city of Mont- 
gomery, or in the city of Birmingham. 



67 

1879. (3678) (1069) (1305) Proceedings of hoard re- 
corded; employment of secretary; payment of expenses, 
etc. — The proceedings of the board of trustees must be 
be recorded in a substantially bound book, which must 
be kept in the archives of the university; and the board 
may at any meeting employ a secretary. The certificate 
of the president, or in his absence, of the president pro 
tempore, countersigned by the secretary, if there be one, 
shall entitle the several trustees to their constitutional 
pay out of the treasury of the university ; and the com- 
pensation of the secretary and the necessary incidental 
expenses of the board at each session shall be paid on 
the order of the board, and the certificate of the presi- 
dent, or president pro tempore, as the case may t^, out 
of such treasury. 

1880. (3679) (1070) (1306) Report ly hoard to the 
legislature. — It shall be the duty of the board, of trus- 
tees to make to the legislature, at each session thereof, 
a full report of their transactions, and of the condition 
of the university, embracing an itemized account of all 
receipts and disbursements on account of the university 
by those charged with the administration of its finances„ 

1881. (3681) (1072) (1309) (430) (384) Interest 
on "University fund'' ; how payable. — The State treas- 
urer must quarterly, on the last day of December, 
March, June, and September of each year, pay the "uni- 
versity fund," as defined by section 1872 (3670) of this 
Code, to the treasurer or any authorized agent of the 
university; and on the application of such treasurer or 
agent, the State auditor shall draw his warrant on the 
State treasurer for the amount due; such payments to 
commence on the days specified after the present consti- 
tution became operative. 

1882. (3682) (1073) (1308) Right reserved to the 
legislature to remse mid amend. — The right is reserved 
to the legislature to revise or amend the provisions of 
this article, and in virtue of the character of the trust 
conferred by the act of congress, to intervene, and, by 



68 

special enactment, to direct and control the board of 
trustees in the discharge of their duties and functions. 

1883. (3683) La/w department to receive second-hand 
tewt-hooks from state library. — The justices of the su- 
court are authorized from time to time to set apart and 
turn over to the law department of the university, 
copies of such second-hand or superseded law books, 
known as text-books, as they may deem expedient, the 
marshal and librarian taking proper receipts therefor. 

1884. (3684) Law department must he supplied with 
Codes. — The secretary of state shall supply to such law 
department ten copies of the Code of Alabama and ten 
copies of the acts of the legislature, and ten copies of 
each volume of the current reports of the supreme court, 
as the same may, from time to time, be published, 

1885. (3685) Police of grounds; appointment, pow- 
ers, and duties. — The president of the university has 
authority to appoint or employ one or more suitable 
persons to act as police officers to keep off intruders and 
prevent trespasses upon and damage to the property of 
the university. Such person shall be charged with all 
the duties and invested with all the powers of police of- 
ficers, and may eject trespassers from the university 
buildings and grounds, and may, without warrant, ar- 
rest persons guilty of disorderly conduct, or of trespass 
on the property of the institution, and carry them be- 
fore the nearest justice of the peace or other officer 
charged with the trial of such offenders, before whom, 
upon proper affidavit charging the offense, such person 
so arrested may be tried and convicted as in case of per- 
sons brought before him on a warrant; and such officer 
or officers shall have authority to summon a posse comi- 
tatus. 

1886. Lands, sale, lease, or other disposition pro- 
vided for. — The board of trustees of the University of 
Alabama may sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of, ail or 
any part of such land as has been or may be selected un- 



69 

der and bj virtue of an act of congress entitled, "An act 
to increase the endowment of the University of Alabama 
from the public lands in said state," approved April 23, 
1884 ; and may sell said lands or any interest therein or 
part thereof for such prices and upon such terms as to 
them may seem proper. Such sales may be for cash or 
for part cash, and the said board of trustees of the Uni- 
versity of Alabama shall not be limited by any statute 
heretofore enacted as to what part of the purchase price 
of such lands which they have heretofore sold or may 
hereafter sell shall be in cash, but the per cent of the 
purchase price of such lands that may have been or shall 
be in cash, shall be such as said board of trustees of the 
University of Alabama may agree upon with the%pur- 
chaser or purchasers. 

1887. Executive committee created and authorized 
to a^t. — The board of trustees of the University of Ala- 
bama may create an executive committee consisting of 
three or more of the trustees composing the said board 
upon which committee it may confer full power and au- 
thority to lease sell, and convey such lands or any part 
thereof, or any interest therein, as fully as said board of 
trustees of the University of Alabama could itself do. 

1888. Sales, leases, etc., ratified and confirmed. — All 
sales, agreements to sell, leases, and other dispositions 
of such lands, or any part thereof, or any interest there- 
in, heretofore made or attempted to be made by the 
board of trustees of the University of Alabama, or by 
any executive committee by ft created, irrespective of 
the per cent of the purchase price which may have been 
paid in cash, are ratified and confirmed, and shall be 
binding upon the board of trustees as fully as if the 
same were made after the 28th day of February, 1907, 
and in cases where the same were made by an execirtive 
committee, as if the same were made by the board of 
trustees of the University of Alabama. 

1889. Medical department of University/ of Ala- 
bama. — The corporation styled the Medical College of 



TO 

Alabama is dissolved, and the institution heretofore 
known as the Medical College of Alabama is constitut- 
ed the Medical Department of the University of Ala- 
bama, and shall hereafter be under the sole management, 
ownership, and control of the board of trustees of the 
University of Alabama; but the said Medical Depart- 
ment shall remain at Mobile for all time. All appro- 
priations of moneys which may hereafter be made in aid 
of the medical college shall enure to the benefit of the 
said Medical Department of the University of Alabama, 
and shall be paid to the trustees of the University of 
Alabama for the use and benefit of said Medical Depart- 
ment at Mobile, Alabama. 

1890. Quadrennial appropriations. — For the quad- 
rennial period beginning on the first day of January, 
1907, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars is appro- 
priated annually for the purpose of making needed im- 
provements in the material equipment of said universi- 
ty, including the erection and furnishing of new build- 
ings and the necessary repairs and furnishings for the 
buildings now in existence. 

1891. Payment of appropriations in quarterly in- 
stallments; exception. — The moneys appropriated by 
the preceding section shall be paid by the State treas- 
urer in equal quarterly installments on the first day of 
January, April, July, and October to the treasurer of 
the University of Alabama upon warrants which shall 
be drawn by the State auditor as warrants are drawn 
for other appropriations ^o the University, but the ap- 
propriation of one hundred thousand dollars made in 
the preceding section shall not be available, and the 
State auditor shall not draw his warrant for any part of 
said sum, except upon the requisition of the board of 
trustees of the University of Alabama, or the president 
thereof, approved by the governor. 

1892. Report must show manner and purpose for 
which funds expended. — The board of trustees of the 
University of Alabama shall embody in the report re- 



71 

quired by law to be made to the legislature a statement 
showing the manner in which, and for what purpose, the 
funds provided in this article have been expended. 



ARTICLE 22. 

CEMENT LABORATORY. 

1893. Testing laboratory for cements. — The testing 
laboratory of the University of Alabama is the official 
testing laboratory for cements and other materials of 
construction. 



ARTICLE 23. 

SUMMER SCHOOL. 

1894. Bummer school at university established. — The 
trustees of the University of Alabama may establish at 
that institution a school to be known as the summer 
school for teachers, at which during the summer months 
instruction shall be given in all the public school stud- 
ies, and in such other studies as may be necessary to bet- 
ter prepare teachers for efficient service in the public 
schools of this State. 

1895. Annual appropriation. — For the maintenance 
of the summer school for teachers, the sum of five thou- 
sand dollars is appropriated annually. 

1896. Appropriation; hoio and when paid. — The sum 
of five thousand dollars shall, on the first day of 
July of each year, be paid by the State treasurer to the 
treasurer of the University of Alabama, on warrants 
drawn by the State auditor as warrants are drawn for 
other appropriations to the university. The trustees of 
the university shall report in writing to the legislature 



at each regular session thereof the manner in which the 
appropriation has been expended. 

1897. Matriculation or tuition fee. — No matricula- 
tion or tuition fee shall be charged to Alabama teach- 
ers, and no incidental fee exceeding three dollars per 
session shall be charged any Alabama teacher. 

1898. Examinations conducted by state hoard of ex- 
aminers annually. — The State board of examiners for 
teachers shall conduct or have conducted, annually, at 
the university, at the close of the summer school for 
teachers, an examination for the convenience of teach- 
ers attending that school. The examination shall be 
equal in all respects to the regular examination requir- 
ed by law. The same fees shall be charged, and the ex- 
amination shall be conducted under the same rules and 
regulations. 



ARTICLE 24. 

ALABAMA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. 

1899. (3686) (1074) Incorporation of the Alabama 
Polytechnic Institute. — The governor and the superin- 
tendent of education, by virtue of their respective of- 
fices, and the trustees aippointed from the different con- 
gressional districts of the State, under the proTisions 
of section 266 of the constitution of 1901, and thrir suc- 

> cessors in office, are constituted a body corporate under 
the name of "The Alabama Polytechnic Institute," to 
carry into effect the purpose and intent of the congress 
of the United States in the grant of lands bv the act of 
July 2, 1862. 

1900. (3687) (1075) General powers, duties, and U- 
ahilities of institute. — Such corporation shall have all 
the rights, privileges, and franchises necessary to a pro- 
motion of the end of its creation, and shall he charged 



73 

with all corresponding duties, liabilities, and responsi- 
bilities. 

1901. (3688) (1076) Credit of State pledged to pay- 
ment of interest. — For the payment of the interest, at 
the rate of eight per cent per annum, on the fund of two 
hundred and fifty-three thousand and five hundred dol- 
lars, arising from the sale of the script for the land do- 
nated in trust to this State by the act of congress of 
July 2, 1862, the faith and credit of the State are forev- 
er pledged. 

1902. (3689) (1077) Powers of hoard of trustees.— 
The board of trustees have the power to organize the 
institute by appointing a corps of instructors, wh^ shall 
be styled the faculty of the institute, and such other in- 
structors and ofilicers as the interest of the institute 
may require; and to remove any such instructors or oth- 
er officers, and to fix their salaries or compensation, and 
increase or reduce the same at their discretion ; to regu- 
late, alter, or modify the government of the institute as 
they may deem advisable; to prescribe courses of in- 
struction, rates of tuition, and fees ; to confer such aca- 
demic and honorary degrees as are usually conferred by 
institutions of similar character ; and to do whatever 
else they may deem best for promoting the interest of 
the institute. They shall also establish and maintain a 
military dejjartment in the institute, and elect a com- 
mandant and such other officers as may be necessary 
for the department. 

1903. (3690) (1078) Classification of trustees.— 
The trustees of the institute are divided into three class- 
es, as follows: The trustees from the fourth, fifth, sev- 
enth, and ninth districts shall constitute the first class; 
those from the eighth, sixth, and second districts shall 
constitute the third class; and they shall hold office, 
and their seats be vacated as prescribed by section 266 
of the constitution. 



1904. (3691) (1079) Vacancy in owce of trustee ; 
how filled; term of appointee. — Any vacancy in the of- 
fice of trustee, occurring during the recess of the legis- 
lature, shall be filled by appointment of the governor, 
such appointee to hold until the next session of the leg- 
islature thereafter; such vacancy shall be filled by the 
governor, by and with the consent of the senate; and 
any trustee appointed to fill a vacancy by the governor, 
by and with the consent of the senate, shall hold during 
the unexpired term, 

1905. (3692) (lO'SO) Time and place of yyieetings of 
trustees. — The board of trustees shall hold their meet- 
ings at the institute on the last Monday in June of each 
year, unless the board shall, in regular session, determ- 
ine to hold its meetings at some other time or place; 
and upon the application in writing of any four mem- 
bers of the board, the governor shall appoint a special 
meeting, naming the time and place thereof, and cause 
notices thereof to be issued to the several members of 
the board, but such meeting shall not be appointed for a 
day less than twenty days subsequent to the date of the 
notice. 

1906. (3693) (1081) Quorum of hoard of trustees.— 
Six members of the board of trustees shall constitute 
a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day 
to day until a quorum is present. 

1907. (3694) (1082) Payment of expenses to trus- 
tees. — The certificate of the president of the board, or, 
in his absence, of the president pro tempore, counter- 
signed by the secretary, shall entitle the several trustees 
to the payment of their actual expenses incurred in the 
discharge of their duties as such trustees. 

1908. (3695) (1083) When gift or grant not affect- 
ed; tohaf, will not operate a forfeiture. — No grant or gift, 
by will or otherwise, shall fail on account of any misno- 
mer or informality, when the intent of the grantor or 
donor can be arrived at; nr shall any default, malfeas- 



75 

ance, or misfeasance, or non-user, on the part of the 
trustees, or other officers or agents of such corpoiation, 
work a. forfeiture of any of its rights, privileges, pow- 
ers, or franchises. 

1909. (3696) (1084) Report of trustees to ler/islate. 
It shall be the duty of the board of trustees to make, or 
cause to be made to the legislature, at each session there- 
of, a full report of their transactions^ and of the condi- 
tion of the institute, embracing an itemized account of 
all receipts and disbursements on account of the insti- 
tute by those charged with the administration oi its fi- 
nances. 

1910. (3697) (1085) Interest paid by treasurer; 
iohen bond required of officers or agents. — ThelState 
treasurer must pay the interest on the fund of two hun- 
dred and fifty-three thousand and five hundred dollars 
arising from the sale of land script quarterly, as the 
same may accrue, to the treasurer or other authorized 
agent or officer of the institute; and on the application 
of the treasurer, agent, or officer, the state auditor shall 
draw his warrant on the state treasurer for such inter- 
est ; but in no case shall any person be authorized to re- 
ceive, hold, or disburse any fund of the institute, with- 
out first having given bond conditioned for the faithful 
performance of his duties. 

1911. Appropriation, in lieu of fertilizer tag tax; 
hotv paid. — In lieu of the share of the proceeds arising 
from the sale of fertilizer tags heretofore paid to the 
Alabama Polytechnic Institute, the sum of thirty-two 
thousand dollars for one year 1907-1908, thirty-six 
thousand dollars for the year 1908-1909, thirty-eight 
thousand dollars for the year 1909-1910, and thereafter 
forty thousand dollars annually is appropriated to said 
institute, and the funds thus appropriated shall be paid 
out of any funds in the treasury of the state not other- 
wise appropriated, which appropriation shall be paid on 
the requisition of the president and treasurer of said 
institute, upon the approval of the governor. 



7G 

AETICLE 25. 

Alabama Industrial School for Girls.. 

1912. Corporate name; rights and potoers of. — "The 
Alabama Girls' Industrial School," heretofore establish- 
ed at Montevallo, is a body corporate under the corporate 
name of "Alabama Girls' Industrial School," and by 
that name may sue and contract, take and hold real and 
personal property, and have all the powers of a corpora- 
tion established to carry on a State educational institu- 
tion of the highest grade and rank. 

1913. Trustees; term of office; vacancy; how filled. — 
The corporation and school shall be governed by a board 
of trustees composed of the governor, the superintend- 
ent of education, one trustee from every congressional 
district, and two trustees from the State at large. The 
trustees from the odd numbered districts shall hold of- 
fice till the first Monday after the second Tuesday in 
January, 1911, and till their successors are appointed 
and qualified, who shall hold office for a term of eight 
years, and till their successors are appointed and qual- 
ified. 

The trustees from the even numbered districts and 
from the State at large shall hold office till the first 
Monday after the second Tuesday in January, 1915, 
and till their successors are appointed and qualified, 
who shall hold office for a term of eight years, and till 
their successors are appointed and qualified, and there- 
after the term of office of every trustee shall be eight 
years. 

Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of trustee, 
the governor shall appoint a successor, who shall hold 
office till the next meeting of the legislature, when the 
governor, by and with the advice and consent of the sen- 
ate, shall appoint a trustee, who shall hold office for the 
unexpired term. 

Upon the expiration of the term of office of any trus- 
tee the governor shall, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the senate, appoint a successor. 



77 

A trustee sliail be ineligible to be elected to any office 
by the board of trustees. 

1914. Purposes for tvMch school established. — The 
school is established for the purpose of giving therein 
instruction in the liberal arts and sciences, and the fol- 
lowing academic departments are established, for every 
one of which a professor shall be selected as hereinaf- 
ter provided, namely : 

1, English — literature" and expression ; 2, mathemat- 
ics ; 3, history and political economy ; 4, psychology and 
education; 5, ancient languages; 6, modern languages; 

7, chemistry and geology; 8, physics and astronomy; 9, 
biology — botany, floriculture, and horticulture. 

And the following industrial departments are estab- 
lished, for every one of which a director shall be ielect- 
ed as hereinafter provided : 

1, Art — drawing, painting, and designing; 2, vocal 
music; 3, instrumental music; 4, commercial — book- 
keeping, stenography, typewriting, telegraphy; 5, do- 
mestic art — sewing, millinery, dress-making; 6, domes- 
tic economy — cooking, chemistry of foods; 7, dairying; 

8, physical culture; 9, manual training. 

And the trustees shall, from time to time, establish 
and maintain departments wherein every other branch 
of human knowledge or industry by which women may 
live shall be taught. 

The trustees may leave vacant the office of professor 
or director in any department, as the best interests of 
the school may require, and cause instruction to be giv- 
en therein by some competent instructor selected as the 
professors and directors are selected. 

The president, professors, and directors shall consti- 
tute the faculty of the school. 

1915. Powers to confer honorary degrees, diplomat, 
certificates, etc. — The trustees of the school, by and 
with the advice and consent of the president and facul- 
ty, may confer regular and honorary degrees upon such 
persons as they deem worthy thereof, and may grant 
and confer degrees, diplomas, or certificates of proficien- 



CY or distinction upon such students as may be entitled 
thereto under the laws established by the trustees gov- 
erning this subject. 

1916. President; election and qualifications of. — The 
trustees shall elect a president for a term to be fixed by 
them, who shall not be removed during the term for 
which he is elected, except for just cause, which shall 
be explicitly set forth in writing in the minutes of the 
proceedings of the trustees and approved by a majority 
of all the trustees. No person shall be eligible to the 
ofS.ce of president unless he is a graduate of some col- 
lege or university of well-known high standing, an edu- 
cator by profession, of good moral character, and pos- 
sessing good business and administrative qualifications, 
and if a man, must be a married man. The trustees 
shall fix the salary of the president before electing a 
person to the office, and shall not decrease the amount 
thereof during the term of office without the consent of 
the president. 

1917. Departments ; professors and directors; Tioio 
chosen. — The trustees shall establish such additional 
departments, academic and industrial, in the school as 
they deem necessary and proper, and fix the salary or 
compensation to be paid to the professors, directors, and 
instructors therein. The president of the school shall 
by and with the advice and consent of the board of trus- 
tees, appoint all of the professors, directors, and instruc- 
tors of all of the departments in the school. Whenever 
a nomination is rejected by the trustees the president, 
if he so desires, shall have reasonable time within which 
to make another nomination, but he shall not have the 
power to nominate any person rejected within one year 
thereafter. Should the president fail or refuse to nomi- 
nate any one to be a professor, director, or instructor, 
the trustees shall elect such professors, directors, and 
instructors as they deem necessary or proper. 

1918. Secretary of trustees. — The trustees shall elect 
a secretary, who shall hold office for the term and receive 



79 

such compensation as may be fixed by tbe trustees, and 
shall perform such services as may be required of him. 

1919. Treasurer; election, duties, and hond of. — The 
trustees shall elect a treasurer, who shall not be a trus- 
tee, who shall receive, hold, and pay out all moneys be- 
longing to the school, or that may be paid in for the nec- 
essary expenses of any student in the school, or for her 
use and benefit, and the treasurer shall hold office for 
the term and receive such compensation as may be fixed 
by the trustees. Before entering upon^his duties the 
treasurer must give bond in such penalty as the trus- 
tees m.ay fix, payable to "The Alabama Girls' Industrial 
School," with conditions that he will faithfully receive, 
safely keep, and lawfully pay out, and promptly, iully, 
and fairly account for all moneys or choses in action 
which may come to him by virtue of his office, and the 
trustees may require a new bond, or an additional bond, 
whenever they judge that the interest of the school re- 
quires it. 

1920. Removal of treasurer. — Whenever the funds in 
the hands of the treasurer, or about to be received by 
him, are in danger of being lost, the trustees may re- 
move the treasurer from office and take from him all 
funds and choses in action belonging to the school or 
any pupil therein, and may, in that event, appoint a 
temporary custodian with bond or security to hold such 
funds. 

1921. Books of institution kept; must he open to in- 
spection. — The secretary, treasurer, and all other offi- 
cers, agents, or servants of the school who are required 
to keep, use, or dispose of any property or supplies of 
the school, shall keep accounts of their transactions in 
books to be furnished them by the trustees, which sliall 
at all times be open to the inspection and examination 
of the president, the trustees, or any one appointed by 
the trustees thereto, and any person withholding such 
book or books belonging to the school from the inspec- 



80 

tion of any officer entitled to examine the same, shall 
be immediately removed from his office or employment 
by the president or trustees. 

1922. Pupils admitted; qualifications of. — Any white 
girl residing in Alabama, of good moral character, in 
good health, and of sufficient physical and mental de- 
velopment, to be judged of by the president, and over 
the age of fifteen years, who shall comply with all the 
requirements prescribed by the trustees, may be admit- 
ted into the school, and upon completing the course of 
study prescribed at the time of her admission, to the 
satisfaction of the faculty", shall receive the degree and 
diploma or certificate she may have earned. Whenever 
the accommodations of the school are sufficient to ad- 
]nit more students than apply from Alabama, then stu- 
dents from other states, territories, or foreign countries 
may be received and instructed in the school upon such 
terms and conditions asNmay be imposed by the trus- 
tees. 

1923. Property exempt from taxation. — The proper- 
ty of the school, of every kind and description, shall for- 
ever be exempt from all taxes, municipal, county, or 
State, and from all local assessments. The president, 
and all other teachers and officers, who may be men, are 
exempt from jury duty and from working public roads 
or streets; and the salary, wages, or compensation of aP 
officers, teachers, and servants of the school shall be ex- 
empt from the process of garnishment or attachment. 

1924. Scholarships. — Every trustee of the school 
shall have the right to appoint one student possessing 
the qualifications hereinbefore prescribed, who shall be 
boarded and instructed in the school free of all charges 
for board, washing, lights, books, and incidental fees, 
but a student shall not be eligible to appointment for 
more than four years, nor shall any girl be appointed 
under this provision who is able to pay for her educa- 
tion, or whose parents, or either of them, have the abili- 
ty to pay for her education in the school. 



\ 81 

1925. Duties of students. — A^ far as may be practi- 
cable students in the school shall be employed in giving 
assistance in any department of work of the school to 
enable them to obtain instruction therein, but students 
shall be employed only in cases and to the extent that 
they inay be able to render efficient service without in- 
jury to themselves or to the school , 

1926. Rights confirmsd, etc. — All rights of property 
in action which may have accrued to the school before 
the adoption of this code are confirmed and preserved, 
and no grant or gift of any valuable thing or right shall 
fail by reason of a mistake in the name of this corpora- 
tion or school; provided the intention to grant or give 
to this school may be derived from the words uStd in 
designating the beneficiary or grantee. All rights, pow- 
ers, and remedies granted in and by an act to create and 
establish an industrial school in the State of Alabama 
for white girls, approved February 21, 1893, and any act 
amendatory thereof, are confirmed and preserved. 

1927. Instruction free. — Instruction in the school 
shall be given without charge to all pupils admitted who 
are residents of this State. 

1928. Power to condemn property. — Whenever the 
school needs any land near the school for any purpose 
of the school, and the owner thereof is a minor or an 
insane person, or refuses to sell the land to the State 
for the use of the school, the trustees shall have author- 
ity to institute in the probate court of Shelby county 
proceedings in the name of the State of Alabama,^ to 
condemn such land, which proceedings shall be conduct- 
ed as near as mav be possible in accordance with the 
provisions of sections 3860-3903 (1712-1742) of the Code. 
It shall be the duty of the trustees to pay out of the 
funds of the school all costs of every condemnation pro- 
ceeding instituted by them under the power hereby con- 
ferred. 



82 

1929. Appropriation for girls' industrial school. — 
For the regular maintenance of the Alabama Girls' In- 
dustrial School there is appropriated, annually, thirty- 
six thousand dollars, to be paid in quarterly install- 
ments of nine thousand dollars to the treasurer of the 
school upon the order of the president of the school. 

1930. Title to and sale of land» of industrial school 
for girls. — The title to all lands granted by the congress 
of the United States to the State of Alabama, "for use 
of" said industrial school, is retained until the trus- 
tees of the school shall sell the same, which sale shall 
be made only with the approval of the governor, and 
when any sale shall have been made, the governor, upon 
the request of the trustees, shall convey the lands sold 
to the purchaser, and all the proceeds arising from the 
sale of lands shall be paid into the treasury of the State 
to remain forever as a fund for the use of the school, 
and upon which there shall be paid to the school inter- 
est at the rate of six per cent per annum, in quarterly 
installments. 

1931. Deposit of proceeds of sales, leases, etc., of 
school lands; paymeint of expenses of selling, etc. — The- 
proceeds of all lands sold or leased by the Alabama 
Girls' Industrial School shall be paid into the State 
treasury, and the school, out of the money appropriated 
by the State for the maintenance of the school, shall 
pay all the expenses of caring for, protecting, and sell- 
ing the lands. 

1932. Interest on land fund paid quarterly. — On the 
last day of every quarter the State treasurer shall pay 
to the treasurer of the Alabama Girls' Industrial 
School, upon the order of the president of the school, in- 
terest at the rate of six per cent per annum on the whole 
amoumt of the fund in the State treasury at the close 
of every quarter, arising from the sale of lands, and 
upon every sum paid into the State treasury before the 
current quarter upon which interest has never been 
paid; and all laws or parts of laws in conflict herewith 



83 

are hereby expressly repealed. It being the purpose and 
intent of the State of Alabama to execute in good faith 
the trust reposed in it by congress when granting the 
lands to the State for the benefit of the school, and to 
preserve the proceeds arising from the lease or sales of 
the lands of the school so granted by congress as a fund 
forever, and to pay the interest thereon for the support 
and maintenance of the school. 



ARTICLE 26. 
Alabama Institute for the Deaf. 

1933. (3698) (1086) (1311) (1025) Education^ in- 
stitution for the deaf established. — There is established 
in this State and located at Talladega, an institution 
for the education of the deaf, called the Alabama School 
for the Deaf. 

1934. (3699) (1087) .(1312) (1026) Incorporation 
of such institution. — The governor, the superintendent 
of education, and eleven other persons, appointed as 
hereinafter provided, are made a body corporate, with 
the rights of succession forever, by the name of the Ala- 
bama School for the Deaf ; and such corporation may ac- 
quire and hold property, real and personal, by gift, de- 
vise, or any other manner, for the purpose of its crea- 
tion ; may sue and contract ; may have and use a common 
seal ; break or alter the same at pleasure, and may have 
all the powers necessary and proper to accomplish the 
purposes of this article. 

1935. (3700) (1088) (1313) (1027) Eleven trustees 
appointed hy the governor; hoard of trustees. — Such 
board of trustees shall consist of the governor, the su- 
perintendent of education, and eleven other persons, 
who shall be appointed by the governor and confirmed 
by the senate at the meeting of the legislature next fol- 
lowing such appointment, and if any appointment by 
the governor is rejected by the senate, the governor must 



84 

again appoint until the full number of apjDointments 
at such time is complete; and in case of a vacancy on 
said board by death or resignation of a member, or from 
any cause other than the expiration of his term of of- 
fice, the governor may fill the vacancy by appointment, 
which shall be good until the next meeting of the legis- 
lature, and until his successor is duly appointed and 
confirmed. Each trustee shall hold office for a term of 
six years. The board shall consist of three members 
from the congressional district in which the school is lo- 
cated, and one from each of the other congressional dis- 
tricts in the State. The three members from the district 
in which the school is located shall be appointed from 
Talladega county. The board shall be divided into three 
classes. The members from the first, second, third, and 
one member from the fourth district, shall compose the 
first class. The members from the fifth, sixth, ane one 
member from the fourth district, shall compose the sec- 
ond class. The members from the seventh, eighth, ninth, 
and one member from the fourth district, shall compose 
the third class. Successors .to those trustees whose 
terms expire in 1908 shall hold office until 1914; suc- 
cessors to those trustees whose terms expire in 1910 
shall hold office until 1916 ; successors to those trustees 
whose terms expire in 1912 shall hold office until 1918 ; 
and thereafter their successors shall hold office for a 
term of six years ; and the members of the board of trus- 
tees, as now constituted and elected, shall hold office un- 
til their respective terms expire under existing law; 
and until their successors are appointed and confirmed 
as herein required. No trustee shall receive any pay or 
emolument other than his actual expenses incurred in 
the discharge of his duties as such. These eleven per- 
sons, and the governor and the superintendent of edu- 
cation, constitute a board of trustees who shall have en- 
tire management and control of such institution. 

1936. (3701) (1089) (1314) (1028) Quorum and 
meetings of hoard; secretary and treasurer. — A majori- 
ty of such board may act, and may meet and adjourn 
from time to time as, in their judgment, the interest of 



85 

the institution may require. They must appoint a sec- 
retary and keep a complete record of all their proceed- 
ings in a well-bound book; and they shall also appoint 
a treasurer, who shall not be a trustee, who shall give 
bond in such amount as the board may determine, and 
with such sureties as they may deem sufficient, for the 
faithful discharge of his duties as such treasurer; and 
he and his sureties shall be responsible for all funds 
which may come into his hands by virtue of his office. 

1937. ( 3702 ) ( 1090 ) ( 1315 ) ( 1029 ) Duties of treas- 
urer. — The treasurer must pay over such funds as may 
come into his hands as such on the written order of the 
principal of the school, countersigned by the secretary 
and recorded in the minutes or records of the proceed- 
ings of the board, kept by such secretary, and the treas- 
urer shall make a full report at the close of the fiscal 
year, and oftener, if required by the governor. 

1938. (3703) (1091) (1316) (1030) President of 
'board; teachers; compensation of officers. — The board 
must appoint from their number a president, and they 
must also appoint a principal teacher for such institu- 
tion, who may nominate to the board such other assist- 
ants in the institution as he may think necessary for its 
successful management, such board having power of 
confirmation or rejection. The board must fix the 
amount of compensation for each of the officers and 
teachers, and the time of payment. 

1939. (3704) (1094) (1319) (1032) Ohject of the 
school; application and admission; term, of pupilaye. — 
The object of such school shall be to afford the means 
of education to the deaf of the State. All deaf children 
of the State between the ages of seven and twenty-one, 
who are of sound mind, free from disease, and of good 
character, may be admitted to the benefits of this school. 
All applicants must make satisfactory proof to the board 
of trustees that they are citizens of the State, and that 
they are proper candidates for admission. Proof may be 
made by the applicant in person, or by next friend, or 



86 

by affidavit of any person cognizant of the facts, before 
the probate judge or notary public. The length of time 
which any pupil may continue in school shall not exceed 
ten years. Provided, however, that the board of trus- 
tees may increase the term of a pupil from year to year 
upon recommendation of the principal, to not exceeding 
four additional years, and no pupil shall be retained in 
school after having passed the age of twenty-five. No 
pupil shall be retained in school after it has been ascer- 
tained that such pupil has ceased to make progress or 
is not being benefited. Any pupil may be dropped at 
any time for cause by the board of trustees. 

1940. (3708) (1098) (1323) Selection and powers 
of executive committee. — The board may select from 
their number an executive committee of three, subject to 
change and removal by the majority of the board at any 
time; and such committee is authorized to meet and 
transact any business that may be transacted by a ma- 
jority of the board; and whatever acts such committee 
may do shall be considered as done by the whole board. 

1941. (3710) Appropriations for each pupil. — For 
the maintenance and the support of the Alabama. School 
for the Deaf the sum of two hundred and thirty-five 
dollars per pupil is hereby annually appropriated out 
of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriat- 
ed, such an appropriation to be based upon the number 
of pupils enrolled on the first day of January in each 
year, and to be drawn quarterly in advance by the treas- 
urer of the board, and disbursed as directed by them. 

1942. (3711) Property to he insured and kept in re- 
pair: appropriation therefor. — The board of trustees 
must provide good and sufficient insurance, payable to 
the State of Alabama, upon the property of the State 
and under their control, and keep and maintain such 
property in good repair ; and for these purposes there is 
annually appropriated the sum of one thousand dollars, 
to be drawn as appropriations for the support of the 



87 

institute are drawn. Sucli appropriation shall be ex- 
pended only for the purposes herein specified. 



ARTICLE 27. 

Alabama Academy for the Blind. 

19-13. (3712) Educational institution for the blind 
established. — There is established in this State and lo- 
cated at Talladega, an institution for the education of 
the blind, called the Alabama School for the Blind. 

% 

1944. (3713) Control and. management. — Such in- 
stitution is under the control and management of the 
board of trustees of the Alabama School for the Deaf, 
who may prescribe rules and regulations for the con- 
duct of the same. The principal for the Alabama 
School for the Deaf is the chief executive officer, 

1945. (3714) 'Object of school; apijlication and ad- 
mission; term of pupilage. — The object of such school 
shall be to afford means of education to the blind of the 
state. All blind children of the state between the ages 
of seven and twenty-one who are of sound mind, free 
from disease, and of good moral character may be ad- 
mitted to the benefits of this school. All applicants 
must make satisfactory proof to the board of trustees 
that they are citizens of the state, and that they are 
proper candidates for admission. Proof may be made 
by the applicant in person, or by next friend, or by af- 
fidavit, or by affidavit of any person cognizant of the 
facts, before a probate judge or notary public. The 
length of time which any pupil may continue in school 
shall not exceed ten years; provided the board of trus- 
tees .may increase the term of any pupil from year to 
year, upon the recommendation of the principal, to not 
exceeding four additional years. And no pupil shall be 
retained in school after having passed the age of twen- 
ty-five. No pupil shall be retained in school after it has 



88 

been ascertained that such pupil has ceased to make 
progress or not being benefited. Any pupil may be 
dropped at any time for cause by the board of trustees. 

1946. (3716) Appropriations for each pupil. — For 
the maintenance and support of the Alabama School for 
the Blind the sum of two hundred and thirty dollars 
per pupil is hereby annually appropriated, such appro- 
priation to be based upon the number of pupils enrolled 
on the first day of January of each year, and to be drawn 
quarterly in advance by the treasurer of the board, and 
disbursed as directed by them. 

1947. (3717) Officers and teachers. — All officers 
and teachers of such institution must be appointed, and 
the salaries fixed and paid in like manner as the officers 
and teachers of the i^labama School for the Deaf are 
appointed and their salaries fixed and paid. 

1948. (3719) Laws relating to the Alabama School 
for the Deaf applicable. — All laws now in force or here- 
after enacted relating to the admission of pupils and 
the management and control of the Alabama School for 
the Deaf are applicable to the Alabama School for the 
Blind, except so far as such laws may be inconsistent 
^dth the provisions of this article. 



ARTICLE 28. 
Alabama School for negro Deaf Mutes and Blind. 

1949. ; (3720) Eduoattional institutions for negro 
deaf and blind established. — There is established in this 
state and located at Talladega, an institution for the ed- 
ucation of negro deaf and blind, called the Alabama 
School for Negro Deaf and Blind. 

1950. (3721) Control and management. — Such in- 
stitution is under the control and management of the 



89 

board of trustees of tlie Alabama School for the Deaf, 
who may prescribe rules and regulations for the con- 
duct of the same. The principal of the Alabama School 
for the Deaf is the chief executive officer. 

1951.^ (3723) Object of school; application and ad- 
mission; term of pupilage. — The object of such school 
shall be to afford the means of education to the negro 
deaf and blind of the state. All negro deaf and blind 
children between the ages of seven and twenty-one who 
are of sound mind, free from disease, and of good char- 
acter, may be admitted to the benefits of the school. All 
applicants must make satisfactory proof to the board of 
trustees that they are citizens of the state, and that 
they are proper candidates for admission. ProoL may 
be made by the applicant in person, or by next friend, 
or by affidavit of any person cognizant of the facts, be- 
fore a probate judge or notary j)ublic. The length of 
time which any pupil may continue in school shall not 
exceed ten years; provided, the board of trustees may 
increase the term of a pupil from year to year, upon the 
recommendation of the principal, to not exceeding four 
additional years. No pupil shall be retained in school 
after having passed the age of twenty-five. No pupil 
shall be retained in school after it has been ascertained 
that such pupil has ceased to make progress, or is not 
being benefited. Any pupil may be dropped at any time 
for cause by the board of trustees. 

1952. (3725) Appropriations for each pupil. — For 
the maintenance and support of the Alabama School for 
Negro Deaf and Blind the sum of two hundred and thir- 
ty dollars per pupil is hereby annually appropriated, 
such an appropriation to be based upon the number of 
pupils enrolled on the first day of January in each year, 
and to be drawn quarterly in advance by the treasurer 
of the board, and disbursed as directed by them. 

1953. (3726) Latvs relating to the Alabama School 
for the Deaf applicable. — All laws now in force or here- 
after enacted relating to the admission of pupils and 



90 

the management and control of the Alabama School for 
the Deaf, are applicable to the Alabama School for Ne- 
gro Deaf and Blind, except so far as such laws may be 
inconsistent with the provisions of this article. 



ARTICLE 29. 
Reformatory and Industrial School. 

1954. Corporate name; rights and powers. — There 
is established a reformatory and industrial school, un- 
der the name and style of the "Alabama Industrial 
School," which is a body corporate, and, as such, shall 
have perpetual succession, may sue, and may have and 
use a common seal, which it may change or alter at its 
pleasure, and may acquire by purchase, or by condemna- 
tion proceedings in the probate court of Jefferson coun- 
ty, in the name of the State of Alabama, such property, 
real and personal, as may be necessary or proper for its 
purposes, and may ave and exercise all such powers and 
privileges as may be necessary or proper for carrying 
out the purposes of its organization, as herein declared. 

1955. Directors nominated hij governor; terms of of- 
fice. — The business, property, and affairs of the corpor- 
ation shall be under the management and control of a 
board of directors, which shall consist of seven ladies 
and the governor, the commissioner of agriculture and 
industries, and the attorney-geneial of the state, who 
shall be ex oificio directors. The ladies constituting the 
first board of directors shall be nominated by the gov- 
ernor and confirmed by the senate, and those thus nom- 
inated and confirmed shall hold, two for two years, two 
for four years, and three for six years ; those holding for 
these respective terms to be designated by the governor 
in making nominations therefor to the senate. There- 
after the lady members of said board shall be elected by 
the continuing members thereof at the expiration of 
their respective terms; and all vacancies caused by 
death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled by the 



91 

board. The term of office of each member of the board, 
after the expiration of the first term, shall be for six 
years, 

1956. Officers, agents, amd employes. — The board of 
directors shall elect a president, vice-president, secre- 
tary, and treasurer, and such other officers, agents, and 
employes as to^ them shall seem necessary or expedient, 
whose term of office or employment shall be for such 
time as the board may prescribe; and the board may re- 
move any such officer, agent, or employe at any time, 
with or without cause. The board may also fill all va- 
cancies occurring in any such offices. 

% 

1957. By-laws. — The board of directors may make 
such by-laws, rules, and regulations, not inconsistent 
with the laws of this state, as shall be necessary or ex- 
pedient for the government and management of said in- 
stitution, and of its offlcers, agents, and employes, with 
power to alter, modify, change, or repeal the same. 

1958. Meetings of hoard. — The board shall meet an- 
nually, at such time and at such place as may be pre- 
scribed by the by-laws; and special meetings may be 
held at the call of the president, or of the governor, or 
of a majority of the lady directors, upon such notice as 
may be prescribed by the by-laws. 

1959. White children hetween ages of six and 
eighteen provided for. — Said school shall receive, care, 
and provide for the welfare of white boys between the 
ages of six and eighteen, who, by their course of conduct 
or surroundings, are likely to become base or criminal, 
or hurtful to the state or the best interests of society, to 
be committed to the keeping of said school under the 
provisions of this article, or who may be voluntarily 
committed to its keeping by the parent or parents, or 
person having them in charge, or who, having no pa- 
rent, guardian, or other person to care for them, volun- 
tarily commit themselves to its keeping. 



92 

1960. ComMiitment of children to reformatory. — Any 
justice of tlie supreme court, chancellor, judge of pro- 
bate, circuit judge, or judge of any city or criminal court 
of this state, may cause to be brought before him, upon 
his own motion, or the sworn complaint of another, any 
white boy between the ages of six and eighteen years 
who may come within any of the following descriptions, 
to-mt : Any white boy who is begging, or any one who 
is offering for sale or selling anything as a mere cover 
for begging. Any who have been abandoned by their 
parents, or who have abandoned their parents and 
homes, and have no visible means of support. Any who 
do not attend the public schools, and idle away their 
time in the streets, without any actual occupation or 
means of support. Any who are orphans, and have no 
sufficient or proper guardian to care for their physical, 
moral, and mental welfare, to insure the child against 
pauperism and crime. Any who may be found destitute, 
or whose parents aie both drunkards, or whose mother 
is a drunkard, lewd, or in prison ; and such child is not 
supported and controlled. Any who shall have been ar- 
rested and brought before police courts repeatedly for 
petty offenses, and shall appear to be beyond control of 
parents. And upon any such child being brought be- 
fore him, such judge shall proceed, at such time as he 
may appoint, to investigate the condition and surround- 
ing of such child, and upon such investigation, if he 
shall be satisfied that the child comes within any one of 
said descriptions, and that it would be for the interest 
of such child that he or she be committed to said insti- 
tution, he Avill make an order to that effect and com- 
mit the child to said institution, to be held and provided 
for under its rules and regulations. At any such inves- 
tigation, the judge holding the same shall allow any one 
to appear for the child and resist such commitment; 
and he shall not make any such commitment if the pa- 
rent, guardian, or a person who is related to the child 
within the fourth degree, and sufficiently qualified in his 
opinion to take care of and provide for the child, will 
appear and agree in writing to take care of and provide 
for the child until he shall arrive at the age of sixteen 
years. 



93 

1961. Appeals from decision committing child. — 
Any child brought before any judge for such commit- 
ment, or any person for such child, may within five days, 
appeal from the decision of the judge committing him, 
to the circuit or city court held in the county in which 
such investigation is had, upon giving bond, with suf- 
ficient sureties, to be approved by the judge, and in 
such sum as may be fixed by him, to have the child 
fohthcoming when the appeal is heard; and if the ap- 
peal be taken by any preson for the child, the bond 
shall further provide for the maintenance of the child 
until said appeal is disposed of. If, upon hearing of the 
appeal, the decision of the judge causing the commit- 
ment is sustained, the child shall be committed bv the 
court to said institution ; but if that decision is nor sus- 
tained, the child shall be discharged. And the judge 
before whom such investigation is made, or to be made, 
may issue all process that may be necessary to have the 
child brought before him, or for commitment; and such 
process shall be executed by the sheriff of the county. 

1962. Time children shall he kept in reformatory. — 
Any child committed to said institution under the pro- 
visions of this article shall be kept therein until he ar- 
rives at the age of twenty-one years, unless sooner dis- 
missed therefrom by the order of the board of directors, 
or in pursuance of any by-law of the institution, or by 
order of the governor of the state. 

1968. Reports to legislature. — The ex officio members 
of the board shall at least once a year visit the institu- 
tion and examine into its management and condition; 
and at each session of the legislature they shall make to 
that body a report touching the institution and its man- 
agement and condition. 

1964. Criminal children sentenced to school. — When 
any white boy between the ages of seven and sixteen 
years shall have been tried and convicted of any crime 
punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary, or in 
jail, or by hard labor for the county, before any court of 



94 

this state, the court may, if of the opinion that the inter- 
ests of the child would thereby be promoted, sentence 
such child to commitment to said school, in lieu of such 
imprisonment, or hard labor for the county. 

1965. May receive children loithout (Uithority of 
court. — Said institution may, in its discretion, receive 
any child placed in its care and keeping by its parent 
or parents, without the authority of any court, and may 
keep said cliild until it is twenty-one years of age; but 
this shall not be done without first making provisions 
for the maintenance of said child under the rules and 
regulations of said institution. 

1966. Exclusive custody of children who are com- 
mitted. — From the time of the lawful reception of any 
child into the institution, and during its stay, said insti- 
tution shall have the exclusive care, custody, and con- 
trol of the child, under such rules and regulations as 
the board of directors may provide. 

1967. Instructions given children committed. — The 
officers of said school shall receive and take into it all 
children committed thereto by competent authority, or 
received therein as aforesaid, and shall cause all children 
in the school to be instructed in such branches of useful 
knowledge as may be suited to their years and capaci- 
ties. The boys shall be taught such useful trades as 
the board may direct, and they shall be taught accord- 
ing to the course of the public schools of the state. 

1968. Treasurer of school; hond of. — The treasurer 
of the school shall, before entering upon the discharge 
of the duties of office, execute bond, payable to the 
"Alabama Industrial School," with good and sufficient 
sureties, and in such sum as the board of directors may 
prescribe, and with condition to faithfully discharge the 
duties of his office. 

1969. Detention and ke€q)ing of children; authority 
for. — Any commitment under this article, whether by 



95 

judge, court, or parent, or other jDerson having in charge 
the child, shall be full, sufficient, and competent author- 
ity to the officers and agents of said school for the de- 
tention and keeping therein of the child so committed. 

1970. Convict children separated from others. — Pro- 
vision shall be made for the care of convict children, 
separate and apart from the other children, so far as -the 
same can be done with the means at hand. 



ARTICLE 30. 

Preparatory School for Mines and Mining. 

1971. Incorporation and name. — J. J. Mayfleld, E. 
N. C. Snow, Hugh Morrow, T. H. Aldrich, H. W. De- 
Bardeleben, J. Collier Foster, and S. Friedman, and 
their successors in office, are a body corporate, to be 
known and styled "A preparatory school for mines and 
mining for the St^te of Alabama," for the purpose of 
preparing the white children of Alabama for the study 
and pursuit of the science and art of mining. 

1972. Location amd powers of. — The situs and place 
of business of said corporation shall be at Tuscaloosa, 
Alabama; said corporation may own, possess, and re- 
ceive by gift, purchase, grant, or devise, or in any other 
manner, real and personal property, so long as the same 
may be used for the school purposes, or in any wise con- 
tributing to the maintenance or preparing and instruct- 
ing the white children of the state in the arts and sci- 
ences of mining. And the said corporation may dispose 
of said property by sale, grant, or otherwise, and shall 
have all other powers necessary to carry into effect and 
operation the objects and purposes for which the cor- 
poration is established, or which have been heretofore 
granted by the state to other educational institutions 
not inconsistent with the provisions of this article. 



96 

1973. Faculty; electon and term of office. — The trus- 
tees of said corporation shall elect the professors and 
teachers in said school, and fix their salaries and terms 
of office, who shall constitute the faculty of said school, 
which shall institute and prescribe a course of studies 
to be pursued in said school, and the said faculty so con- 
stituted may issue certificates of proficiency to the stu- 
dents in said school. A majority of the trustees hereto- 
fore appointed shall constitute a quorum for the trans- 
action of all business in behalf of this corporation. 

1974. Trustees: classification and terms of office. — 
The trustees hereinbefore appointed and named shall be 
divided into five classes, viz. : Classes one, two, three, 
four, five and each class shall hold office respectively 
for the terms of one, two, three, four, and five years 
each, classification to be determined in the order in 
which they are named in the first section of this arti- 
cle; at the expiration of the respective terms of each of 
said trustees his successor shall be elected by a major- 
ity of the other trustees; provided, that after the expi- 
ration of the term of the trustees herein named, in the 
manner herein provided, the term of the office as to all 
successors shall be for five years, and until their suc- 
cessors are elected and qualified. 



AETICLE 31. 

School Houses. 

1975. Appropriation for schooJhouses; disbursement 
of. — The sum of sixty-seven thusand dollars shall be ap- 
propriated annually, or so much thereof as is necessary, 
out of the proceeds arising from the sale of fertilizer 
tags by the commissioner of agriculture and industries, 
for the purpose of aiding in the ere<:tion or repairing of 
rural schoolhouses in this state. 



1976. Limitation of appropriation to any one county. 
— Not more than one thousand dollars of this appropri- 
ation shall be used or paid out in any one county of this 
state in a separate fiscal year. 

1977. Application of school districts for part of ap- 
propriation. — The district trustees of any school dis- 
trict, no part of which lies in an incorporated city, town, 
or village, having secured bona fide donations or sub- 
scriptions of not less than one hundred dollars for the 
purpose of building or repairing a public schoolhouse 
in their district, may make apiDlication to the county su- 
perintendent of education to receive the benefits of this 
article. 

1978. Filing unci siibmitting application to county 
hoard. — The county superintendent of education shall 
file such application and make a record of same, and sub- 
mit it to the county board of education. 

1979. Consideration of application hy county hoard. 
— The county board of education shall consider and in- 
vestigate all applications filed, shall approve such as 
seem just and necessary, giving preference to the most 
needful. 

1980. Record of consideration of applications: con- 
tents. — The board shall record their proceedings, show- 
ing the applications approved by them, the amounts of 
the donation or subscription and the amount of money 
which the board recommends to be given to such district. 

1981. Amount of appropriation. — The amount so 
recommeirded for any district shall in no case exceed the 
amount secured by donation and subscriptions; nor 
shall the total for any schoolhouse exceed two hundred 
dollars. 

1982. Plans and specifications for schoolhmtses: houy 
furnished. — No appropriation shall be made for the 

4 s L 



98 

building of a schoolhouse unless said schoolhouse is 
built in accordance with the plans and specifications 
either furnished by or approved by the state superin- 
tendent of education, 

1983. Area of schoolhouse lot. — No money shall be 
appropriated for the erection of a new schoolhouse build' 
ing on a plat of ground of less dimensions than two 
acres. 

1984. County hourd certifies to state superintendent 
of education application appvoYed. — The county boards 
of education shall certify to the superintendent of edu- 
cation, in writing, showing the county from which ap- 
plications approved by them come, the amount or sum of 
money recommended by said board to be given to such 
districts, and such statement shall be signed by the 
county superintendent of education, giving his postof- 
fice address. 

1985. State superintemdent orders tvarrant; auditor 
issues same, — Upon the receipt of the certificate by the 
superintendent of education, he shall request the state 
auditor to draw his warrant on the state treasurer for 
the sums or amounts specified therein, and shall lay be- 
fore the state auditor the statements and information 
he may possess ; the state auditor shall draw his warrant 
on the state treasurer for the amount of money to be 
given to each school district, as shown by the certificate, 
and he shall make each of said warrants payable to the 
county superintendent of education of the county where- 
in such districts are situated, and shall indicate thereon 
for the benefit of what public school district the same 
is issued. 

1986. Delivery and forwarding of tuarrants. — Such 
warrants shall be delivered to the superintendent of ed- 
ucation, and he shall forward the same to the different 
county superintendents of education as the same are 
payable. 



90 

1987. Statements filed and kept. — The statements 
from which said warrants are made up shall be deliv- 
ered or returned to the state superintendent of educa- 
tion by the state auditoij after he has had the use of the 
same in the issuance of said warrants, and shall be safe- 
ly kept in the office of the state superintendent of educa- 
tion. 

1988. Receipts for warrants and proceeds thereof. 
— All persons or officers receiving any warrant or the 
proceeds thereof issued under this article shall execute 
a receipt to the person or officer from whom he receives 
the same, describing such warrant. 

1989. Payment of icarrant to district trustees. — 
Whenever it shall be shown to the satisfaction (ff the 
county superintendent of education that the erection or 
repair of a public schoolhouse has been commenced and 
the amount of subscription or donation secured and a 
deed has been executed, conveying to the State of Ala- 
bama for the benefit of said district the lot or parcel of 
land on which said public schoolhouse is being erected 
or repaired, the county superintendent shall endorse and 
deliver to the district trustees said warrant and the 
amount or sum of money named in the same shall be 
paid to said trustees or to their successors in office, the 
proceeds of which shall be applied by the trustees to the 
building or repairing of the public schoolhouse for 
which such warrant was issued. 

1990. Accotint toith each county to he kept hy state 
superintendent of education. — The state superintendent 
of education shall, in a book kept by him for that pur- 
pose, open an account with each county, in this State, 
and shall charge against that county the amount of each 
warrant issued under this article for the benefit of any 
of the public school districts of such county. 

1991. Warrants not delivered hy county superintend- 
ent of education. — Any of the warrants not delivered 
by the county superintendent of education by reason of 



100 

failure of the district to comply with the requirements 
of this article, shall, after the lapse of six months from 
the receipt of same by the county superintendent of ed- 
ucation, be by him returned to the state superintendent 
of education, and by him marked cancelled, and if the 
same has been charged against the county in the book 
kept under the preceding section, an entry shall be made 
therein crediting the account of said county with each 
of such cancelled warrants. 

1992. Unexpended balance^ carried forward. — If, at 
the end of any year, the whole appropriation for that 
year has not been exhausted, the state auditor and the 
state treasurer shall carry the unexpended balance for- 
ward, and this balance shall be available, in addition to 
the regular appropriation for the current year. 

1993. Warrants, and the proceeds thereof; how used. 
— The proceeds of all warrants issued under this article 
shall be used only for the erection or the repair of the 
public schoolhouses in the district for the benefit of 
which they shall be issued, and it shall be unlawful to 
use or apply the same to any other purpose whatsoever. 



PEOCEEDINGS FOE AND AGAINST COUNTY 
SUPERINTENDENTS OF EDUCATION. 
(CIVIL CODE.) 

5940. Against county superintendent' for balance in 
Ms hands. — Summary judgments must be rendered on 
motion, after ten days notice, in the circuit court, or oth- 
er court having jurisdiction of the amount, of the coun- 
ty in which the defendants, or either of them, reside, 
against any countj^ superintendent of education who 
has resigned, removed from the county, or been legally 
removed from office, or whose term of of&ce has expired, 
and his sureties, or any or either of them, in favor of his 
successor, if there be one, or if there be no successor, in 
favor of the superintendent of education, for the amount 



101 

of school moneys belonging to liis count}-, which have 
not been legally disbursed by him, or paid oyer to his 
successor in office, with interest from the time of the 
default, and twenty per cent damages and costs ; and the 
money, when recoyered by the superintendent of educa- 
tion, must be turned oyer to the county superintendent 
of education. 

5941. Authoritj/ to employ counsel. — The county su- 
perintendent of education may employ attorneys to pros' 
ecute actions under the provisions of this article against 
such defaulters and their sureties; but in no case shall 
any attorney receive more than ten per cent of the 
amount which may be collected on any judgment obtain- 
ed by him, or of the amount which may be otherwise 
recovered by him. * 

5942. Notice. — The notice of such motion may be 
served by any sheriff of this state, and must succinctly 
state the cause for which, and the court and term at 
which, the motion will be made. 

5943. Transcript of superintendent of education evi- 
dence. — On the trial of such motion, a transcript from 
the books and records in the office of the superintendent 
of education or of the state auditor, duly certified under 
his hand, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts 
shown by them. 

5944. Time and manner of trial. — If the notice has 
been given as herein required, such motion shall stand 
for trial at the first term, and the court must hear and 
determine the same, and render judgment upon the evi- 
dence Avithout a jury, unless a trial by jury shall be de- 
manded, when a jury must be immediately impaneled 
to try the issues of fact, unless good cause be shown for 
a continuance. 

5945. In far or of teachers for moneys due them; 
court and notice; appeal from justices' court. — Sum- 
mary judgment may also be rendered against the conn- 



102 

ty superintendent of education and his sureties, or any 
or either of them, in favor of any teacher of the public 
scho-ols, his legal representative, or assignee, by motion, 
on ten dtiys' notice, in any court of the county of such 
superintendent, of competent jurisdiction, for failing to 
pay over, on demand, to such teacher any moneys in the 
hands of such superintendent due or owing such teacher, 
as required by law, for the amount of such moneys, with 
interest from the time of the demand, and ten per cent, 
damages on the aggregate amount, and costs; but from 
all cases tried before a justice of the peace, or notary 
public ex-officio justice of the peace, either party shall 
have the right to appeal as provided by law in other 
cases decided before such officer. 



CITY AND TOWN SCHOOLS UNDER MUNICIPAL 
GOVERNMENT. 

1348. Schools; regulation of. — Cities and towns shall 
have power to establish, maintain, and regulate public 
schools in which children from seven to twenty-one years 
of age, bona fide residents of and living within the cor- 
porate limits of such city or town, shall be entitled to 
admission ;and non-residents shall be admitted on such 
terms as the board of educatien may prescribe, and sepa- 
rate schools shall be provided for children of African 
descent. 

1349. Education; iDoard of. — In cities having a popu- 
lation of six thousand or more, the management and 
control of the public schools therein shall be vested in 
a board of education, which shall be composed of five 
members, who shall serve without compensation, and 
shall be qualified electors and residents of the respec- 
tive cities, and who shall not be members of the city 
council. At the first regular meeting of the council in 
April, or as soon thereafter as may be practicable, at 
any regular meeting, the council shall elect the members 
of the board of education, whose terms, of office respec- 



103 

tively shall be one, two, three, four, and five years. An- 
nually thereafter at the first regular meeting in April, 
or as soon thereafter as may be practicable, at a regular 
meeting, the council shall elect a member, whose term of 
office shall be five 3^ears, to succeed the member of the 
board of ducation whose term expires that year. In the 
event of a vacancy in the membership of the board, by 
resignation or otherwise, the fact shall be reported to 
the city council by the board, and the council shall elect 
a person to fill such vacancy for the unexpired term. 

1350. Election of officers of hoard of education. — ^At 
its first regular meeting in May, after the election of 
said board, or as soon thereafter as practicable, and an- 
nually thereafter, the board shall elect from its mem- 
bership a president and vice-president. It shalf also 
elect a clerk, who need not be a member of the board, 
and may fix his compensation. The vice-president shall 
perform the duties of the president only when the pres- 
ident may be absent from the city or unable to perform 
his duties. The board may fill any vacancy occurring 
from any cause in any of the offices mentioned in this 
section. 

1351. School property; Jiow held. — All property, real 
and personal and mixed, now held or hereafter acquired 
for school purposes, shall be held in trust for the use 
of the public schools of the city or town, and no sale or 
purchase of real estate shall be made by any other than 
the city council of such city or town. The board of edu- 
cation shall have full and exclusive power, within the 
limits of the revenue appropriated for such purpose or 
accruing to the use of the public schools, to purchase 
fixtures, furniture, apparatus, libraries, fuel, and sup- 
plies for the use of the schools, and to sell the same, and 
to make expenditures for the maintenance and repair of 
the school ground, buildings, and other property, to es- 
tablish and build new schools, when sites have been pro- 
vided by the city council, and to superintend the erec- 
tion thereof, to make additions, alterations, and repairs 
to the buildings and other property devoted to school 



104 

uses, and to make necessary and proper regulations, con- 
tracts, and agreements in relation to such matters. All 
such contracts shall inure to the benefit of the public 
schools, and any suit at law or in equity, brought upon 
them, and for the recovery and protection of money and 
property belonging to and used by the public schools, 
or for damages, shall be brought by and in the name of 
the city. 

1352. Appropriation for schools. — Each, year the 
board of education shall make an estimate in detail of 
the amount of money required for the proper support 
and maintenance of the public schools during the next 
ensuing scholastic year, which shall be submitted to the 
city council, and the city council shall make annual ap- 
propriations for the support and maintenance of the 
schools that it may deem necessary and pioper in view 
of all other needs of the government of the city and of 
the expected revenues from taxes and otherwise. Money 
so appropriated, and all money received from the school 
fund of the state, poll taxes, the sale of school property, 
the sale of bonds for school purposes, and from any 
other source whatever for .school purposes, shall be held 
by the treasurer of the city as ;i special f *nd or funds 
for school purposes, and it shall be paid out by him on 
warrants drawn by the clerk of the board and counter- 
signed by the presilent, or vice-president, when acting 
as president of the board of education, and by the clerk 
cf the city, and not otherwise, and no warrant shall be 
drawn unless in pursuance of a resolution of the board 
of education entered upon its minutes. 

1353. Schools; control of. — The board of education 
shall have full control of the public schools of the city 
or town. It shall have power to establish schools, to 
discontinue any school, to consolidate schools, to pre- 
scribe courses of study and books to be used, not in con- 
flict with the geneial law in reference to text-books, 
to divide the city into school divisions as circumstances 
may require, to employ teachers and a superintendent 
of schools and necessary employes and to fix their sal- 



105 

aries and wages, to establish and maintain high schools 
and prescribe rules for the expulsion of pupils, to expel 
any pupil guilty of gross disobedience or willful mis- 
conduct, to dismiss any superintendent, teacher, oi em- 
ploye, when in its opinion the interests of the schools 
require it, and generally to have and exercise all rights, 
powers, and authority required for the management of 
a system of public schools. It shall be the duty of the 
board of education to examine, or cause to be examined, 
all persons, at times and places fixed by it, offeiing as 
candidates for teaclier's places, and when found quali- 
fied to give them certificates of qualification gratuitous- 
ly, to grant diplomas without charge to graduates of tlie 
high schools, to visit all schools as often as once a 
month, to establish and uniformly enforce proper fjides 
and regulations, to inquire into the perfoimance of their 
duties by the teachers and superintendent, and into the 
progress of the pupils, and to prepare and submit to the 
city council an annual report showing the operation of 
the schools for the past scholastic year, and suggesting 
their needs for the future. 

1354. Superintendent of schools. — It shall be the 
duty of the boftrd of education to elect a superintendent 
of schools, fix his term of office and salary, and pre- 
scribe his powers and duties. The superintendent shall 
be required to give bond for the faithful performance of 
his duties, which shall be payable to said city, in a sum 
to be fixed by the boaid, not less than three thousand 
dollars, with surety or sureties to be approved by the 
president of the board, the bond to be filed with the clerk 
of the city or tow^n. The superintendent may be elected 
clerk of the board of education, and if so elected his 
bond shall stand as security for the faithful XDerformance 
of his duties as cleik, as well as superintendent, how- 
ever conditioned. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the 
board of education to keep full and correct detail ac- 
count of all money received and expended. The super- 
intendent shall attend to the taking of the school census, 
which shall be taken in the months of April of each odd 
year, and it shall be his duty to make complete and ac- 



106 

curate reports of the same to the superintendent of edu- 
cation of the state. 

1355. Board of education of tokens having over one 
thousand and less than six thousand inhahitants. — 
Towns having a population of more than one thousand 
and cities having a population of less than six thousand 
shall have a board of education to consist of five mem- 
bers, which shall be elected by the council at its first 
meeting in April, 1909, or as soon thereafter as may be 
practicable, and every two years thereafter. The mem- 
bers of said board shall be qualified electors and shall 
serve without compensation. As soon after the election 
as practicable, said board shall organize by electing one 
of their number president, and shall also elect one of 
their number secretary of said board. And said board 
shall have all the powers and be vested with all the au- 
thority in relation to public schools as boards of educa- 
tion in cities of six thousand or more population. 

In towns of one thousand population or less the man- 
agement and control of the public schools therein shall 
be vested in a board of education to consist of five mem- 
bers, who shall have all the powers and be vested with 
all the authority in relation to such public schools as 
boards of education in cities. Said board of education 
shall be elected by the qualified electors of the town at 
the first regular municipal election held under the pro- 
visions of this chapter and biennially thereafter. 

1356. School districts. — Each incorporated city, or 
town, as a special school district, or embraced therein, 
shall receive its proportionate share of the public school 
revenue to be paid over by the state superintendent of 
education direct to the city superintendent of schools 
and by him paid over to the treasurer. 

1357. Municipalities exempt from school law. — The 
provisions of this chapter relative to public school sys- 
tems shall not apply to cities and towns in counties 
now having by law a combined city and county school 



107 

system operated under a single board of education, or 
where the members of the board hold office for life. 

Where by any provision of law any certain or definite 
percentage of the revenue of any city or town from li- 
census or taxes, either or both, is required to be used for 
the maintenance of its public schools, then such provis- 
ions shall be unaffected by this chapter and shall be and 
remain in full force and effect. 

1358. Lihraries. — Cities and towns shall have the 
right to establish and maintain or aid in establishing 
and maintaining public libraries, either separately or 
in connection with the public schools. 



CRIMINAL PROVISIONS OF PUBLIC SCHOOL 

LAW. 

6413. Injuring or defacing fnihlic or private 'build- 
ings, or fences thereof.— Anj person who willfully in- 
jures or defaces any church, or schoolhouse, or build- 
ing belonging to the State, or to any county, city, town, 
or person, or writes or draws figures, letters, or char- 
acters on the walls thereof, or on the fences or inclos- 
ures thereof, must, on conviction, be fined not less than 
ten nor more than one hundred dollars, and may also be 
imprisoned in the county jail, or sentenced to hard labor 
for the county, for not more than three months ; and the 
fine goes to the injured party. It shall not be necessary 
to aver or prove the ownership of any church or school- 
house in prosecutions under this section. 

6769. Disturlmig people met for school purposes or 
holiday. — Any person who willfully disturbs any school, 
or other assemblage of people, met for any lawful pur- 
pose, or for amusement or recreation on a holdiday for 
a school, must, on conviction, be fined not less than five 
nor more than fifty dollars. 

6834. Embezzlement by using school money for other 
than school purposes. — Any person into whose hands, 



108 

or under whose control, any of the public s^chool money 
may come, who uses or permits the use of the same, or 
any part thereof, except for purposes of the public 
schools, and in accordance with the law regulating the 
public schools, and providing for the disbursement of 
the public school money, is guilty of embazzlement, and, 
on conviction, must be punished as if he had stolen it. 

6897. Hhooting, thrmvinrj missies into, etc., dwelling 
amd other houses. — Any i^erson who shoots a pistol or 
( other firearm or slingshot, or who thro^\'s a 'stone or oth- 
er missile at, into, in, through, or against a dwelling 
house, school house, church building, factory storehouse, 
courthouse or house or building used for manufactur- 
ing purposes, or any house or building used for the as- 
semblage of people for business or pleasure, shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, 
shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, and 
may be sentenced to hard lubor for the county for not 
longer than twelve months. 

7750. Stealing examination fjuestioris, penalty for. — 
Any person who purloins, steals, buys, receives, sells, 
gives, or offers to buy, give, or sell any examination 
questions or copies thereof of any examination provided 
by law before the date of the examination for which they 
had been prepared shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than 
one hundred dollars, and may also be sentenced to hard 
labor for the county for not less than six months. 

7751. Use of other than contract hooks in public 
schools. — Any teacher who shall use or permit to be 
used in his or her school any text-book upon the branch- 
es for which text-books are adopted, where the commis- 
sion has adopted a book upon the branch, other than the 
one so adopted, except supplementary books, shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be 
punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more 
than fiftv dollars. 



109 

7752. Charging more than contract price for school 
hooks. — Any local agent, dealer, clerk, or other person 
handling or selling the books adopted as school text- 
books, who shall demand or receive for any copy of any 
of tlie books so adopted more than the contract price, 
in crises where the purchase is for cash, shall be guilty 
of. a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall foT each 
offense be punished by a fine of not less than Mtj nor 
more than five hundred dollars. 

7753. TcM-hook provisions; violation of, penalty. — 
Any person or teacher violating the provisions of arti- 
cle 18 of chapter 41 of this Code as to text-books, shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall 
be fined not less than ten dollars hor more than M% dol- 
lars. 

7754. Schoolhoitse tvarrants or prot'eeds, ivrongful 
application of; ponalty. — Any person who shall know- 
ingly use or apply or authorize the use or application 
of the proceeds, or any part thereof, of any warrant de- 
livered to him under article 31 of chapter 41 of this 
Code, for the purpose or objects other than as required 
by said articles, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, 
on conviction, shall be fined not less than two hundred 
dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, and may 
also be imprisoned in the county jail or sentenced to 
hard labor for the county for not more than six months. 

7755. False or fraudulent enumeration of school chil- 
dren; penalty for. — Any person appointed to make an 
enumeration of the children within school age of any 
public school district in this state as required by law, 
who sliall knowingly make a false or frauclulent enumer- 
ation or repoit of the number of children within school 
age residing in sucli district, shall be guilty of a misde- 
meanor, and, on conviction, shall be punished by a fine 
of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five 
hundred dollars, and shall also be sentenced to hard la- 
bor for the count}^ for not less than six months nor more 
than twelve months. 



110 

CHAPTER 184. 

Child Laboe. 6428-6449. 

6428. Children under twelve years of age prohibited 
from, ivorking in factories^ etc. — No child under tvrelve 
years of age shall be employed or permitted to work in 
or be in or about any mill, factory, or manufacturing- 
establishment in this state, 

6429. Children hetween twelve and sixteen regulated 
and required to attend schools — One year after January 
1, 1908, no child between the ages of twelve and sixteen 
years shall be employed or be permitted to work or de- 
tained in or about any mill, factory, or manufacturing 
establishment in this state, unless such child shall at- 
tend school for eight weeks in every year of employment, 
six weeks of which shall be consecutive. 

6430. Children under fourteen years limited to sixty 
hours por week. — No child under the age of fourteen 
years shall be employed or detained in or be in or about 
any mill, factory, or manufacturing establishment with- 
in this state for more than sixty hours in any one week. 

6431. Children under sixteen not employed hetween 
7 p. m. and 6 o^ clock a. m. — No child under sixteen years 
of age shall be employed or detained in, or be in or about 
any mill, factory, or manufacturing establishment with- 
in this state between the hours of seven o'clock p. m. and 
six o'clock a. m., standard time. 

6432. Children hetiveen sixteen and eighteen limited 
to eight hours per night. — No child over sixteen and un- 
der eighteen years of age shall be so employed or detain- 
ed between said hours for more than eight hours in any 
one night. 

6433. Children under eighteen not employed without 
affidavit of parent or guardian; contents of affidavit. — 
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation, 
to employ, or detain in, or permit to work in, or be in or 



Ill 

about any mill, factory, or mannfacturing establish- 
ment any child under eighteen years of age, without first 
requiring said child to present on a blank furnished by 
the employer, the form of which shall be provided by 
the inspector, the affidavit of the parent or guardian or 
other person standing in parental relation to such child, 
stating the date and place of birth of said child. 

6434. Affidavit filed and recorded in probate offiag. 
— Such affidavit shall be filed by such employer within 
ten days after the employment of such child, in the of- 
fice of the Judge of probate of said county, and shall be 
numbered and labeled with the name of the child, and a 
complete index thereof made and preserved as other rec- 
ords in said office. For the services so rendered^ the 
judge of probate shall receive from the county treasury 
ten cents for each such affidavit. A copy of said affida- 
vit shall be forwarded, within ten days after the employ- 
ment of such child, to the inspector at Montgomery, Ala- 
bama. 

6435. Violating or pertnitting child to violate child- 
labor laio. — Any person, firm, or corporation who vio- 
lates any of the provisions of this chapter, or who know- 
ingly permits any child to be employed or detained in, 
or be in or about his, their, or its mills, factory, or manu- 
facturing establishments, contrary to the provisions of 
this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on 
conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than 
fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for eacii 
offense. 

6436. Violating law or refusing to obey order of in- 
spector; penalty for first and second convictions. — Any 
person, firm, or corporation, who violates any of the pro- 
visions of this chapter, or who employs any child, or 
knowingly permits an}'' child to be employed, or to work 
in or about, or be detained in or be in or about any mill, 
factory, or manufjacturing establishment contrary to 
law, ov who fails or refuses to obey promptly every law- 
ful order or direction given by the inspector under this 



1.12 

law, must on conviction be fined not less than iifty dol- 
lars nor more than one hundred dollars, and upon a sec- 
(md conviction, for any violation of this law, must be 
fined not less than one hundred nor more than five hun- 
dred dollars, and if a natural person be sentenced to 
hard labor for not more than six months. 

6437. False affidavit; perjury. — -Any person, who 
knowiiiglj^ makes any false affidavit, when an affidavit 
is required under this chapter, is guilty of perjury. 

6438. Inspector of mills, factories, etc., duties of. — 
The inspector of jails and almshouses is charg'ed with 
the duty of inspecting all mills, factories, and manu- 
facturing establishments wherein women and children 
work, and he must inspect every such mill,, fac- 
tory, or manufacturing establishment at least four 
times a year if ]Diacticable, without notice of 
his purpose to do so. He shall thoroughly in- 
spect such manufacturing establishments, and as- 
certain their sanitary condition, and whether a 
good supply of fresh drinking water and fresh 
air and suitable water closets for the women and girls 
are provided, separate and apart from those for the use 
of ho>js and men, and particularly the ages and condi- 
tions of the children employed, at work in, or detained 
therein; and shall carefully examine all affidavits filed 
in the probate office under this law and in connection 
therewith, the children named therein, and all other 
matters concerning the operation and condition of the 
manufacturing establishments in which children work 
or are detained, or make written orders requiring cor- 
rection of any defects in or about the mill or manufac- 
turing establishment. 

6439. Inspector reports to governor. — The inspector 
shall make written report to the governor of every exam- 
ination of every manufacturing establishment inspected 
by him, and note every refusal or failure to comply with 
or observe the law, in any respect, which reports must 
be published annually. 



113 

6440. Insi)ector removes child from mill, etc. — It 
shall be the duty of the inspector to remoYe from any 
mill, factory, or manufacturing establishment, any child 
found Avorking or detained therein contrary to law, and 
to remove therefrom any child who is afflicted with any 
infectious, contagious, or communicable disease. The 
judgment of the inspector as to the removal of any child 
shall be final and conclusive. 

6441. Prosecutions instituted against owners of 
mills, factories, etc. — It shall be the duty of the in- 
spector to institute prosecutions against the owners, op- 
erators, managers, and superintendents of any such mill^ 
factory, or manufacturing establishment for every vio- 
lation of law that they may discover, and to furnish* to 
the solicitor of the circuit or county the names adfe ad- 
dresses of all necessary witnesses. 

6442. Inspector shall have access to mills, factories, 
etc. — The inspector shall have free access at any time, 
to any mill, factory, or manufacturing establishment 
wherein women and children work, or are detained, and 
no person shall refuse to allow the inspector to have free 
access to a manufacturing establishment and every part 
thereof. 

6443. Hindering, ohstructing, or misleading inspector. 
— No person shall hinder or obstruct the inspector, in 
inspection or make any false or misleading statement to 
the inspector about the establishment, its operation, or 
condition, or about any person working or detained 
therein, 

6444. Copy of law posted at office of mill, factory, 
etc. — All persons must have a jjlainly printed copy of 
the child-labor law posted up in the office and in every 
room in which anj^ person works in the mill, factory, or 
manufacturing establishment. 

6445. Penalty for violating three preceding sections. 
— Any person violating the three preceding sections, 



114 

must, on conviction, be fined not less than one hundred 
nor more than five hundred dollars, and on subsequent 
conviction be fined not less than five hundred dollars, 
and may be sentenced to hard labor for not more than 
one year. 

6446. Disobeying orders as to removal of children. — 
Any owner or manager of a mill, factory, or manufac- 
turing establishment who disobeys any order of the in- 
spector, removing a child from the mill, factory, or 
manufacturing establishment; or who permits any child 
who has been removed by the inspector to return to work 
therein, or to be in or about the mill, factory, or manu- 
facturing establishment without the written permission 
of the inspector, must, on conviction, be fined not less 
than fifty dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars. 

6447. Clerk of inspector; salary of. — The inspector of 
jails and almshouses is authorized to employ a compe- 
tent clerk, with the approval of the governor, who shall 
be authorized to perform the same duties as by law the 
inspector is authorized to perform, and shall have and 
exercise the same powers under the direction of the in- 
spector as the inspector has by law. The annual salary 
of the clerk of the inspector shall be eighteen hundred 
dollars, payable monthly out of the State treasury as 
clerks in the other departments are paid. 

6448. Limitation of lam to certain manufactories. — 
This chapter shall apply only to manufacturing estab- 
lishments engaged in manufacturing or working in cot- 
ton, wool, clothing, tobacco, printing and binding, glass 
or other kind of work that is injurious to health when 
carried on indoors. 

6449. Traveling expenses of "inspector and clerk; 
reimhnrsement of. — The inspector and the clerk of the 
inspector, when traveling in the performance of their 
duties hereunder" shall be reimbursed their actual trav- 
eling expenses when approved by the governor, to be 
paid on the warrant of the State auditor. 



115 

EDUCATION AETICLE OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE Xiy. 

EDUCATION. 

256. The Legislature shall establish, organize and 
maintain a liberal system of public schools throughout 
the State for the benefit of the children thereof between 
the ages of seven and twenty-one years. The public 
school fund shall be apjjortioned to the several counties 
in proportion to the number of school children of school 
age therein, and shall be so apportioned to the schools in 
the districts or townships in the county as to provide, as 
nearly as practicable, school terms of equal duration in 
such school districts or townships. Separate schools 
shall be provided for white and colored children, and no 
child of either race shall be permitted to attend a school 
of the other race. 

257. The principal of all funds arising from the sale 
or other disposition of lands or other property, which 
has been or may hereafter be granted or entrusted to 
this State or given by the United States for educational 
purposes shall be preserved inviolate and undiminished 
and the income arising therefrom shall be faithfully ap- 
plied to the specific object of the original grants or ap- 
propriations. 

258. All lands or other property given hj individuals, 
or appropriated by the State for educational purposes, 
and all estates of deceased peisons who die without leav- 
ing a will or heir shall be faithfully applied to the main- 
tenance of the public schools. 

2^9. All poll taxes collected in this State shall be ap- 
plied to the support of the public schools in the respec- 
tive counties where collected. 

260. The income arising from the sixteenth section 
trust; fund, the surplus revenue fund, until it is called 
for by the United States government, and the funds enu- 
merated in sections 257 and 258 of this Constitution, to- 
gether with a special annual tax of thirty cents on each 
one hundred dollars of taxable property in this State, 



11 « 

AvMch the legislature shall levy, shall be applied to the 
support and maintenance of the public schools, and it 
shall be the duty of the Legislature to increase the pub- 
lic school fund from time to time, as the necessity there- 
for and the condition of the treasury and the resources 
of the State may justify; provided, that nothing herein 
contained shall be so construed as to authorize the Leg- 
islature to levy in unj one year a greater rate of State 
taxation for all purposes, including schools, than sixty- 
five cents on each one hundred dollars worth of taxable 
propert^^; and provided further, that nothing herein con- 
tained shall prevent the Legislature from first i^roviding 
for the payment of the bonded indebtedness of the State 
and interest thereon out of all the revenues of the State. 

261. Not more than four per cent, of all moneys rais- 
ed, or which may hereafter be appropriated for the sup- 
port of public schools, shall be used or expended other- 
wise tlian for the payment of teachers employed in such 
schools ; provided, that the Legislature may, by a vote of 
two-thirds of each House, suspend the operation of this 
section. 

262. The supervision of the public schools shall be 
vested in a Superintendent of Education, whose powers, 
duties and compensation shall be fixed by law. 

263. No money raised for the support of the public 
schools, shall be appropiiated to or used for the support 
of any sectarian or denominational school. 

264. The State University shall be under the manage- 
ment and control of a board of trustees which shall con- 
sist of two members from the Congressional district in 
which the University is located, one from each of the 
other Congressional districts in the State, the Superin- 
tendent of Education and the Governor who shall be ex- 
officio president of the board. The members of the 
Board of Trustees as now constitute^! shall hold office 
until their respective terms expire -'under existing law, 
and irntil their successors shall be elected and confirmed 
as hereinafter required. Successors to those trustees 
whose terms expire in nineteen hundred and two shall 
hold office until nineteen hundred and seven ; successors 
to those trustees '^'hose terms expire in nineteen hun- 



117 

died and four shall hold office until nineteen hundred 
and eleven ; successors to those trustees whose terms ex- 
pire in nineteen hundred and six shall hold office until 
nineteen hundred and fifteen ; and thereafter their suc- 
cessors shall hold office for a term of twelve years. When 
the term of anv member of such board shall expire, the 
remaining members of the board shall by secret ballot 
elect his successor ; provided, that any trustee so elected 
shall hold office from the date of his election until his 
confirmation or rejection by the Senate, and, if confirm- 
ed, until the expiration of the term for which he was 
elected, and until his successor is elected. At every 
meeting of the Legislature the Superintendent of Educa- 
tion shall certify to the Senate the names of all who 
have been so elected since the last session of the legisla- 
ture, and the Senate shall confirm or reject them, as it 
shall determine is for the best interest of the University. 
If it reject the names of any jnembers, it shall there- 
upon elect trustees in the stead of those rejected. In 
case of a vacancy on said board by death or resignation 
of a member, or from any cause other than the expira- 
tion of his term of office, the board shall elect his suc- 
cessor who shall hold office until the next session of the 
Legislature. No trustee shall receive any pay or emolu- 
ment other than his actual expenses incurred in the dis- 
charge of his duties as such. 

265. After the ratification of this Constitution there 
shall be paid out of the treasury of this State, at the 
time and in the manner provided by law, the sum of not 
less than thirty-six thousand dollars per annum as in- 
terest on the funds of the University of Alabama, here- 
tofore covered into the treasury, for the maintenance 
and support of said institution ; provided, that the Leg- 
islature shall have the power at any time they deem 
proper for the best interest of said University to abolish, 
the military system at said institution, or reduce the 
said system to a department of instruction, and that 
such action on the part of the Legislature shall not 
cause any diminution of the amount of the annual in- 
terest payable out of the treasury for the support and 
maintenance of said University. 



118 

266. The Alabama Polytechnic Institute, formerly 
called the Agricultural and Mechanical College, shall be 
under the management and control of a board of trus- 
tees which shall consist of two members from 
the Congressional district in which the institute 
is located, and one from each of the other Congressional 
districts in the State, the State Superintendent of Edu- 
cation, and the Governor, who shall be ex-officio presi- 
dent of the board. The trustees shall be appointed by 
the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, and shall hold office for a term of twelve years, 
and until their successors shall be appointed and quali- 
fied. The board shall be divided into three classes, as 
nearly equal as may be, so that one-third may be chosen 
quadrennially. Vacancies occurring in the office of 
trustees from death or resignation, and the vacancies 
regularly occurring in the year nineteen hundred and 
five, shall be filled by the Governor, and such appointee 
shall hold office until the next meeting of the Legisla- 
ture. Successors to those trustees whose terms expire 
in nineteen hundred and three and shall hold office un- 
til nineteen hundred and eleven; successors to those 
whose terms of office expire in nineteen hundred and 
five shall hold office until nineteen hundred and fifteen ; 
and successors to those whose terms of office expire in 
nineteen hundred and seven shall hold office until nine- 
teen hundred and nineteen. No trustee shall receive 
any pay or emolument other than his actual expenses 
incurred in the discharge of his duties as such. 

267. The Legislature shall not have power to change 
the location of the State University, or the Alabama 
Polytechnic Institute, or the Alabama school for the 
Deaf and Blind, or the Alabama Girls' Industrial school, 
as now established by law, except upon a vote of two- 
thirds of the Legislature taken by yeas and nays and en- 
tered upon the Journals. 

268. The Legislature shall provide for taking a 
school census by townships and districts throughout the 
State not oftener than once in two years, and shall pro- 
vide for the punishment of all persons or officers mak- 
ing false or fraudulent enumerations and returns; pro- 



119 

vided, the State Superintendent of Education may or- 
der and supervise the taking of a new census in any 
township, district or county, whenever he may have rea- 
sonable cause to believe that false or fraudulent re- 
turns have been made. 

269. The several counties in this State shall have 
power to levy and collect a special tax not exceeding ten 
cents on each one hundred dollars of taxable property 
in such counties, for the support of public schools ; pro- 
vided, that the rate of such tax, the time it is to continue, 
and the purpose thereof, shall have been first submitted 
to a vote of the qualified electors of the county, and 
voted for by three-fifths of those voting at such election ; 
but the rate of such special tax shall not increase the 
rate of taxation. State and county combined, in an^ one 
year, to more than one dollar and twenty-five cents on 
each one hundred dollars of taxable property ; excluding 
however, all special county taxes for public buildings, 
roads, bridges and the payment of debts existing at the 
ratification of the Constitution of eighteen hundred 
and seventy-five. The funds arising from such special 
school tax shall be so apportioned and paid through the 
proper school officials to the several schools in the town- 
ships and districts in the county that the school terms 
of the respective schools shall be extended by such sup- 
plement as nearly the same length of time as practi- 
cable; provided, that this section shall not apply to the 
cities of Decatur, New Decatur and Cullman. 

270. The provisions of this article and of any act of 
the Legislature passed in pursuance thereof to establish, 
organize and maintain a system of public schools 
throughout the State, shall apply to Mobile county only 
so far as to authorize and require the authorities desig- 
nated by law to draw the portions of the funds to which 
said county shall be entitled for school purposes and to 
make reports to the Superintendent of Education as may 
be prescribed by law ; and all special incomes and pow- 
ers of taxation as now authorized by law for the bene- 
fit of public schools in said county shall remain undis- 
turbed until otherwise provided by the Legislature ; pro- 
vided, that separate schools for each race shall always 
be maintained by said school authorities. 



120 



IMPORTANT OPINIONS OF ATTOENEYS- 
GENERAL. 



January 23, 1904. 

TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES; EXEMPT FROM THE 
PAYMENT OF POLL TAX; RIGHT TO VOTE. 

Hon. Isaac W. Hill^ 

Superintendent of Education. 
Dear Sir: 

I acknowledge receipt of a letter from Mr. L. M. Ste- 
venson, Superintendent of Education of Randolph 
count}^, addressed to you, and asking whether or not 
Township Trustees are required to pay a poll tax in 
order to be qualified to vote. You request me to give 
you my view of this question. 

The Constitution declares that ''to entitle a person to 
vote at any election b}^ the people, he shall have * * * 
paid on or before the first day of February next preced- 
ing the date of the election at which he offers to vote, 
all poll taxes due from him for the year 1901, and for 
each subsequent year." — Constitution, Section 178. And 
that "the poll tax mentioned in this article shall be one 
dollar and a half upon each male inhabitant of the 
State, over the age of twenty-one years, and under the 
age of forty-five years, who would not now be exempt 
by law." — Constitution, Section 194. 

So it will be seen that the payment of the poll tax is 
necessary to qualify a person to vote, except those per- 
sons exempt from the payment of poll tax on the date 
of the ratification of the Constitution, November 28, 
1901. On that date, and for many years prior thereto, 
the statute was in force which exempts Towmship Trus- 
tees from the payment of poll tax, so long as they shall 
continue in office and perform the duties thereof. 
Code, Section 3575. Township Trustees being exempt 



121 

from the jiayment of poll tax at tlie date of the ratifica- 
tion of the Constitution, and the Constitution declaring 
that the poll tax mentioned therein shall be |1.5(> upon 
each male inhabitant not exempt by law, I am of the 
opinion that Townshij) Trustees are not required to 
pay the poll tax in order to qualify to vote. 
Very respectfully, 

Massey Wilson^ 
Attorney General. 



August 30, 1904. 

THE APPORTIONMENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL ' 
FUNDS. 

Hon. Isaac W. Hill, 

Superintendent of Education^ 

Montgomery^ Ala. 
Dear Sir : 

I have investigated the question of the method of ap- 
portionment of the Public School Funds, and respect- 
fully submit my conclusions thereon. 

The Constitution of 1875 contains the following sec- 
tion : ''The general assembly shall establish, organize 
and maintain a system of public schools throughout the 
State, for the equal benefit of the children thereof be- 
tween the ages of seven and twenty-one years." — Consti- 
tution 1875, Article XIII, Section 1. In enumerating 
the duties of the Superintendent of Education, he was 
required to apportion the public school funds in the 
following way: "He shall annually apportion the pub- 
lic school fund to the various townships and school dis- 
tricts, according to the entire number of children of 
school age, and shall see to the proper disbursement of 
the same." — Code, Section 3546, sub-division 5. It will 
be observed that under the provisions above cited, the 
Superintendent of Education apportioned the public 
school fund to the various townships and districts, with- 
out reference to the counties in which such townships 



122 

or districts were located. For purposes of apportion- 
ment the township or district was the governmental 
sub-division or entity to be dealt with. 

There is a material difference in the corresponding 
section of the Constitution of 1901 upon this subject, 
from that contained in the Constitution of 1875. The 
present Constitution declares : "The Legislature shall 
establish, organize and maintain a liberal system of 
public schools throughout the State, for the benefit of 
the children thereof between the ages of seven and 
twenty-one years. The public school fund shall be ap- 
portioned to the several counties in proportion to the 
number of children of school age therein, and shall be 
so apportioned to the schools in the districts or town- 
vships in the county, as to provide, as nearly as practi- 
cable, school terms of equal duration in such school dis- 
tricts or townships."— Constitution, Section 256, It 
will be noticed that the Constitution does not, in ex- 
press words, declare who shall apportion the fund to 
the several counties. It is clear, however, that the in- 
tention is for the Superintendent of Education to make 
such apportionment. He made the apportionment to the 
townships or districts under the law as it existed at the 
time the Constitution became effective, and the super- 
vision of the public schools is vested in him by both con- 
stitutional and statutory provisions. He should appor- 
tion the school fund to the several counties in accordance 
with the section of the Constitution above quoted. 

After the fund has been apportioned to the several 
counties, the Constitution declares it shall be so appor- 
tioned to the schools in the districts or townships in the 
several counties, as to provide, as nearly as practicable, 
school terms of equal duration in such school districts or 
townships. The Constitution does not undertake to 
prescribe rules to accomplish this end. It declares the 
principle upon which apportionment to the various 
schools in the county shall be based but provides no ma- 
chinery for carrying such principle into practical effect. 
The act "to provide for the redistricting of the public 
schools of the State, and for the manegement and control 
of the same," (General Acts 1903, page 289, Sections 10, 



123 

11 and 15), creates a county board of education in each 
of tlie several counties of the State, and defines the du- 
ties of such board. The act gives the county board of 
education entire control of the public schools, except 
when otherwise provided by law, gives it power to con- 
tract with teachers and make disbursements of the pub- 
lic fund subject to its approval. It does not in express 
terms give to such county board the power to apportion 
the public school fund to the several schools of the 
county, but I think the power to do this is included 
within and flows from the very broad and comprehen- 
sive terms used in the statute that defines its powers and 
duties. It will become the duty of the several countj^ 
boards to apportion the public school fund to the schools 
in the districts in the various counties, in such a wgiy as 
to provide, as nearly as practicable, school terms of 
equal duration in such school districts, after the Sup- 
erintendent of Education shall have apportioned the 
fund to the various counties. 

Yours respectfully, 

Massey Wilson^ 
Attorney General. 



September 7th, 1904. 

A COPY BOOK IS A TEXT BOOK, AND THAT 
ADOPTED MUST BE USED IN THE PUB- 
LIC SCHOOLS WHEN WRITING 
IS TAUGHT. 

Hon. Isaac W. Hill, 

Superintendent of Education. 
Dear Sir: 

Your request for an opinion *as to the proper construc- 
tion, in the particular hereinafter indicated, of the re- 
cent act of the Legislature, providing for the creation of 
a Text Book Commission, and to procure for use in 
the public free schools in Ihis State, a uniform series of 
text books, has been received. 



124 

The facts upon which information is desired are as 
follows : 

Under this act the Text Book Commission selected 
and adopted for use in the public schools, a copy book 
published by Eaton & Company, and the contract was 
awarded to that firm to furnish these copy books for 
use in the public schools of this State, for a period of 
five years. 

The Text Book Commission, in construing this act 
has held that it was permissible to teach writing in the 
public schools of Alabama, without copy books, and 
in some of the public schools, writing has been taught 
and is being taught without using the copy books, select- 
ed and adopted by the Text Book Commission. The 
question for consideration is, can it be left to the dis- 
cretion of school boards, or teachers, to decline to use 
any text book selected and adopted by the Text Book 
Commission, and teach such branch of study by some 
other method, and without the use of such text books 
so selected and adopted. 

It is declared in Sections 1, 16 and 17 of the act : "that 
the Governor, State Superintendent of Education, and 
three eminent teachers of the State * * * shall be and' 
are hereby constituted the School Book Commission of 
the State of x\labama, whose duty it is to select and 
adopt" a uniform series or system of text books for use 
in the public schools of this State. Said commission is 
hereby authorized, empowered and directed to select 
and adopt a uniform system or series of text books for 
use in the public schools in this State, as above indi- 
cated, and when so selected and adopted, the said text 
books shall be used for a period of five years in all the 
public schools of this State, and it shall not be lawful 
for any officer, director or teacher, to use any other 
books upon the same branches other than those adopted 
by said State Text Book Commission. Said uniform 
series shall include the following branches of study, to- 
wit : 

"Orthography, reading, imiting, arithmetic, geogra- 
phy," etc. "That any person or teacher violating the 
provisions of this act, shall become guilty of a misde- 



125 

meanor, and upon conviction, be punished by a fine 
of not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars." 

"That any teacher who shall use or permit to be used 
in his or her school, any text book upon the branches 
embraced in this act, where the Commission has adopted 
a book on that branch other than the one so adopted, 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, 
punished as provided for in Section 16 of this act." 

It Avill be observed that Section 1 of the act specifi- 
cally provides — 

First — For the appointment of a Text Book Commis- 
sion. 

Second — It is made the duty of said Text Book Com- 
mission to 'select and adopt a uniform series or system 
of text books for use in the public schools of Alabama." 

Third — The State Commission is authorized, empow- 
ered and directed to select and adopt a uniform system 
of series of text books for use in the public schools of 
this State. 

Fourth — ^When said text books are so selected and 
adopted thej' "sliaU he used for a period or five years in 
all of the public schools of this State." 

Fifth-^It is further provided that it shall not be law- 
ful for any school officer, director or teacher to use any 
other books upon the same branches other than those 
adopted by the State Text Book Commission. 

Sixth— Said uniform series shall include the follow- 
ing branches of study to-wit: "Orthograpthy, reading, 
writing, arithmetic, geograph^'," etc. 

It is clearly the legislative intent that the system of 
teaching these several branches shall be uniform in all 
the public schools in this State, and to that end, it is 
made mandatory that the text books selected and adopt- 
ed by the Text Book Commission, shall be used for a pe- 
riod of five years, in the public schools, to the exclusion 
of all other books upon the same branches. 

It is also clearly the legislative intent that the books 
adopted should be used in said public schools in order 
to secure said text books at a cheaper price than here- 
tofore prevailed, and the mandatory requirement that 
these books, when selected and adopted, shall be used 



126 

for a period of five years, was supposed to be an induce- 
ment to the various publishers^ to bid for the books at 
a lower cost than they could be bought at retail. If it 
were held that a teacher could refuse to teach arithme- 
tic, or for that matter, any other text book selected and 
adopted,, and teach that particular branch of study 
by a process of his own, independently of any book, this 
construction would emasculate the law, and leave it to 
the discretion of each school board, or teacher, to deter- 
mine whether or not he could teach arithmetic "out of 
his head," by a higher or better process than by the 
books selected and adopted by the Text Book Commis- 
sion, and thereby destroy the uniformity in teaching 
this branch. This intent is made still more speciiac and 
clear by Section 16 of the act, which provides that any 
person or teacher violating the provisions of this act, 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and as a further guar- 
antee that the text books adopted and selected by the 
Commission, shall be used in the public schools of this 
State, Section 17 of the act makes it a misdemeanor for 
any teacher to use or permit to be used in his or her 
school, any text book upon the branches embraced in 
this act, other than those adopted. 

The legislature has unlimited and exclusive power 
to select the text books to be used in the public schools, 
and to compel the use of the books selected. In the ex- 
ercise of this power by the enactment before referred to, 
our court declares, in the case of Dickinson v. Cunning- 
ham (in M. S. ) : "Two things are very clear to our 
minds; one, that the legislature meant to provide an 
exclusive privilege in order to secure books at the best 
prices; the other, the legislature meant to prevent the 
possibility of any break in the uniformity of the system 
framed by the statute." 

The question arises, therefore, as to whether or not 
the copy book, selected and adopted by the Text Book 
Commission for the uniform system or series of writing 
to be taught in the public schools of this State, is a text 
book. Of this there is no doubt. Webster defines a text 
book to be any manual of instruction; an educational 
treatise ; a school book. The Century Dictionary defines 



127 

it to be a book used by students, as a standard work for 
a particular branch of study; a manual of instruction. 
It is also there defined to be a book containing a "Text 
or Texts," and one of the definitions there given of the 
text, is "formal handwriting." The legal definition of 
a book is much more comprehensive, and greater than 
the popular idea of a book. A single sheet of music has 
been held to be a book within the purview of the law. — 
(A. & E. Enc. of Law, 2d ed., Vol. 4, pp. 703-704.) 

The Supreme Court of Illinois in an able opinion 
(The People ex rel. v. Board of Education, 175 111. 9), 
held that a copy book was a text book within the mean- 
ing of the law of that State, which is very similar to the 
law of Alabama upon this subject. It is my opinion, 
therefore, that the copy book of Eaton & Co., selecj^d 
and adopted by the Text Book Commission, must be used 
and taught, in all the public schools of this State, wher- 
ever writing is taught, and that it does not lie in the 
discretion of any school board or teacher to provide for a 
different method of teaching writing, or to decline the 
use of these copy books in teaching that branch. The 
contrary view would make possible a "break in the uni- 
formity of the system," which our Supreme Court says 
the legislature meant to prevent. 

Respectfully yours, 

Massey Wilson, 
Attorney General. 



September 24, 1904. 
Hon. Isaac W. Hill, 

Superintendent of Education. 
Dear Sir : . 

I have your favor of the 22d inst., requesting my opin- 
ion of the questions below quoted : 

"First — Can any of the books that have been adopted 
by the State Text Book Commission for the use of the 
public schools of the State, be purchased from any per- 
son or dealer other than the publisher having the con- 
tract with the State to furnish such books, or his duly 



128 

constituted and appointed depositories, or regularly and 
duly constituted agents throughout the counties of Ala- 
bama, and he used by a pupil or teacher in the public 
schools of Alabama? 

"Second — If any of the books that have been adopted 
by the State Text Book Commission for use in the pub- 
lic schools of the State, having printed or stamped upon 
them the statements of the price and that they are sup- 
plied under the contract with the State, are, sold by a 
dealer other than a duly appointed agent, or through 
channels other than those provided by law and under 
contract, and as a matter of fact they are not furnished 
by the publisher or supplied to said dealer or person 
offering them for sale through the agencies adopted, is 
the dealer or said person so selling such book, guilty of a 
violation of the statute, in such sort as to make him sub- 
ject to conviction for a misdemeanor under said stat- 
ute?" 

(1.) The Supreme Court of Alabama has answered 
the first question in the negative. It is decided in the 
case of Dickinson v. Cunningham (in MS) that if a book 
adopted by the State Text Book Commission was pur- 
chased from a person or dealer other than the contractor 
and was not supplied through a depository or agency, 
such book could not be taught in the public schools. It 
follows that it would be a misdemeanor to use a book so 
obtained in the public schools of this State. 

(2.) Under the Text Book Statute, and the contracts 
made with publishers pursuant to it, the successful bid- 
ders for the privilege of supplying books for the public 
schools have the exclusive right to supply such books for 
that purpose. — (Dickinson v. Cunningham, supra; 
Clark V. Ha worth, 7 L. R. A., 240). While this exclu- 
sive privilege may result in benefit to the contractor, it is 
supposed to be of corresponding benefit to the public by 
enabling the patrons of the public schools to get better 
and cheaper books. The contractors are under bond in 
a large penalty to execute the contracts on their part. 
Books furnished under these contracts are required to 
come up to the standard of quality and excellence of the 
samples furnished with the bids and preserved by the 



129 

Secretary of State. To make it easier to fix liability 
on the contractor for a violation of the statute, or of 
their contracts, and a safe-guard against the introduc- 
tion into the schools of books other than those adopted, 
it is required that such contractors shall cause to be 
printed upon every book furnished under their contracts 
the contract price, the exchange price, and the fact that 
the price is fixed by State contract, and a request that 
deviations therefrom shall be reported to the school au- 
thorities. If a dealer who is not a contractor, or a 
designated depository, or a duly constituted agency, as 
provided for in the statute, should procure books from 
some source other than the regular channels provided in 
the law, and himself cause to be printed upon such 
books the matter required to be printed i^pon 
such books sold under contract, and sell such 
bocks as if the same were sold pursuant to 
the text book law, I think such conduct would 
be a violation of the provisions of this act. Section 
16 of the act declares that any person violating its pro- 
visions shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, I think, how- 
ever, that books which have been sold or supplied by a 
contractor with the State, or through his depository or 
agency, and which come up to the tests of the text book 
law, may be sold within the State by any person or 
dealer who may have become the owner of such books, 
without being subject to criminal liability. Neither do 
I mean to say that the mere sale of the adopted books by 
any dealer would be a violation of the law, although 
such books, unless supplied under the contracts with the 
State, could not be used in the public schools. It is the 
printing upon adopted books by persons who are not 
contractors, the matter required to be printed upon 
them by the contractors, and the selling of such books 
under and as in compliance with the statute by persons 
who are not contractors (privileges given exclusively to 
the contractors) which I think a violation of the law. 

Very respectfully, 

Massby Wilson, 
Attorney General. 

5 S L ' 



130 

September 28, 1904. 

APPORTIONMENT OF SPECIAL SCHOOL TAX. 

Hon. Isaac W. Hill^ 

Superintendent of Education. 
Dear Sir: 

I am of the opinion that funds raised by the levy of 
a special tax for the support of public schools under the 
act approved October 1, 1903, should be apportioned in 
substantially the same way as the general school fund 
is apportioned; that is, to the districts in the county 
which are not governed by the general school law in the 
proportion which the school population of such districts 
bears to the entire school population of the county, and 
that the remainder of the funds should be apportioned 
to the several districts in the county which are governed 
by the general law in the same proportion that the gen- 
eral fund has been apportioned by the county board of 
education to such districts. 

Very respectfully, 

MASSE^t Wilson, 
Attorney General. 



June 26, 1905. 

TAX OFFICER'S COMMISSIONS FOR COLLECT- 
SCHOOL TAX. 

Hon. Isaac W. Hill^ 

Superintendent of Education. 
Dear Sir: 

I beg to acknowledge letter from Mr. John C. Wil- 
liams, Superintendent of Education for Talladega 
county, to you concerning commissions to be allowed 
the assessor and collector for assessing and collecting 
the special school tax in Talladega county. 

The question should have been addressed to the State 
Auditor. The tax officers are required to make settle- 



131 

nients through his office, and he will have to determine 
what commissions are allowable. It is my idea, however, 
that in estimating the assessor's commissions the aggre- 
gate of this and all other assessments should be taken, 
and that the commissions should not be allowed on the 
school tax separately, and that the collector is entitled 
to two per cent for collecting the special school tax. 
General Acts, 1903, p. 352; Code, Sections 3925 and 
2997. 

Yours truly, 

Massey Wilson^ 
Attorney General. 



February 7th, 1907. 

Hon. Harry C. Gunnels, 

Superintendent of Education, 

Capitol. 
Dear Sir: 

In reply to your favor of the 7th, inst., I have to say 
that public school money in the hands of a County Sup- 
erintendent, for disbursement to teachers, is not subject 
to garnishment at the suit of a creditor of a teacher to 
whom such money is due or to become due. Pruitt vs. 
Armstrong, 56 Ala. 306. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Alex. M. Garber^ 

Attorney General. 



April 20th, 1907. 
Hon. Harry C. Gunnels, 

Superintendent of Education, 

Capitol. 
Dear Sir: 

Many pressing matters and an unusual volume of 
work in this office have rendered the delay unavoidable 
in responding to your request, contained in your letter 



132 

of March 26th, to advise you concerning certain provis- 
ions of the ''Rural School House Act," approved March 
2nd, 1907. I proceed herewith to render an opinion up- 
on each inquiry : 

1st. The title of this Act is as follows : "To appro- 
priate annually |G7,000.00 or so much thereof as is nec- 
essary to aid rural school districts in this State to erect 
or to repair public school houses." Its purpose is clearly 
expressed in the above title and its character is distinctly 
remedial. There is nothing in the body of the Act as to 
when it shall become operative. It cannot be contended 
that in the absence of a specific direction on this point 
there existed any legislative intent to postpone the ope- 
ration of this Act to a future date. It is well settled 
that unless a different time is specified, statutes take ef- 
fect and become operative from the day of the approval 
by the Governor, Phoenix Carpet Company v. State, 
118 Ala. 143; Taylor v. Hand, 31 Ala. 383; Bank of 
Mobile V. Murphy, 8 Ala. 119. Therefore, it is manifest 
that this Act became effective on March 2nd, 1907, the 
date of its approval by the Governor, and I so advise 
you. 

2nd. It is clearly the purpose of this Act to render 
aid only to ri(7-al school districts in the erection and 
repairing of public school houses and the provisions of 
Section 2 expresslj^ exclude any school district a part of 
which lies in an incorporated city, town or village. The 
word "incorporated" must be held to qualify and de- 
scribe each of the three words "city," "town" and "vil- 
lage." 

3rd. Whenever the erection of a rural school build- 
ing has been begun and has not been completed before 
the passage of this Act, I think such school house should 
receive the benefits of this Act and you would be author- 
ized to so hold, provided the County Board of Education, 
upon application by the district trustees to the County 
Superintendent of Education and its submission to said 
Board, approves such application for aid, after having 
ascertained that all the conditions of Section 2 of said 
Act have been complied with; and if the plans of said 



133 

building, under course of construction, are endorsed by 
you. 

4th. The following provision is found in the last lines 
of Section 3 of this Act : "No money shall be appropri- 
ated for the erection of a neiv school building on a plat 
of ground of less dimensions than two acres." The 
meaning of the language employed here is too obvious 
to admit of any doubt. The restriction upon the erec- 
tion of a new school building on a plat of less than two 
acres is plain, and it is equally apparent that this re- 
striction does not apply to the school houses already 
erected on a plat of less than two acres. Repairs on 
such a school lot, of less than two acres, therefore, may 
receive the aid of the funds appropriated under this 
Act. % 

5th. Construing this Act as a whole, it is my opinion 
that it appropriates |67,000.00 annually for the pur- 
poses named in the Act. From Section 1 it would ap- 
pear that 167,000.00 or only so much thereof as is nec- 
essary is appropriated, but when construed in connec- 
tion with the following provision in Section 5 : "Pro- 
vided further that if at the end of any year the whole 
appropriation for that year has not been exhausted, the 
State Auditor and the State Treasurer shall carry the 
unexpended balance forward and this balance shall be 
available in addition to the regular appropriation for 
the current year," it is clear that it was the manifest 
intention of the Legislature to appropriate and set aside 
$67,000.00 each year to aid rural school districts and 
such evident intention of the Legislature must control. 
Brooks vs. School Commissioners, 31 Ala. 227 ; Sale vs. 
State, 68 Ala. 530 ; 26 Am. & Eng. Ency. of Law, (2d ed. ) 
p. 66. Lehman Durr & Co. vs. Robinson, 59 Ala. 219. 

You will observe that Section 1 provides that not more 
than |1,000.00 of the annual apropriation shall be used 
in any one county in a separate fiscal year, but this pro- 
vision cannot be held to apply to the unexpended bal- 
ance mentioned in Section 5, which is made available in 
addition to the regular appropriation for the current 
year. , 



134 , 

Gth. Where this appropriation is used for merely re- 
pairing a rural school house, the Act does not require 
the plans of such school house to be endorsed by the 
State Superintendent of Education. 

7th. The deed provided for in Section 4 of this Act 
should be made to "The State of Alabama for the bene- 
fit of district of county," and should 

convey a fee simple title. Therefore, I advise you to in- 
struct your County Superintendents of Education to 
accept only deeds which pass an absolute and uncon- 
ditional title to the State of Alabama. I advise also 
that you require these deeds to be sent to your office 
for inspection before requesting the State Auditor to 
draw his warrants as provided in the Act. They should 
also be filed in your office permanently for safe keeping. 

I remain, Yours very truly, 

Alex. M. Garber, 

Attorney General. 



May 16th, 1907. 

Hon. Harry C. Gunnels, 

Superintendent of Education, 
Capitol. 
Dear Sir : 

Some time ago you submitted to me by letter a ques- 
tion involving this inquiry : 

"Is a citizen, who is not a qualified elector in Eussell 
County, State of Alabama, eligible to hold an elective 
office in said county, to-wit, the office of County Sup- 
erintendent of Education?" 

In reply I beg to submit the following: 

Neither the Constitution nor the statutes of Alabama 
prescribe the qualifications required of a person to ren- 
der him . competent to hold this office. Section 3550 of 
the Code of 1896 reads as follows: "Unless by special 
act it is otherwise provided, a County Superintendent 
for each County is elected at each general election as 
provided in this Code." See also an act "To provide for 



135 

the election of County Superintendents of Education/' 
approved Feb. ISth, 1889, p. 396 of tlie acts of 1888-89. 

Upon investigation I find that it has been held in sev- 
eral States in cases of this character, that none but 
qualified electors can hold an elective office unless other- 
wise specially provided. The leading Alabama case on 
this subject is that of Scott v. Strobach, 49 Ala. p. 477. 
Justice Brickell, speaking for the Court in this case, 
asserts the following principle: "It would be at war 
with the spirit and theory of our institutions, to recog- 
nize as eligible to any public office one who is not a 
qualified voter. The right of suffrage and the capac- 
ity to hold office, unless otherwise expressly declared, 
must co-exist." 

In the case of the State of Iowa v. Geo. Van Beek, 19 
L. R. A. 622, the Supreme Court of Iowa on appeal in 
an action brought to determine the right to the office of 
sheriff delivered the following: "Our first inquiry is 
whether an alien can hold the office of sheriff under the 
laws of Iowa. There is no provision in our Constitution 
or statutes upon that subject, yet it is certainly a funda- 
mental principle of our Government that none but qual- 
ified electors can hold an elective office unless otherwise 
specially provided * * *, We are of the opinion that ap- 
pellee Van Beek was ineligible to hold the office of 
sheriff prior to his naturalization." 

A like principle is laid down in the case of the State 
V. Smith, 14 Wis. 497. 

In the later case of the State v. Murray, 28 Wis. 96, 
the Supreme Court of that State in referring again to 
this question, through Justice Lyons, who delivers the 
opinion of the Court, says : 

"There is no constitutional or statutory provision, and 
but one judicial decision in this State, which affects this 
question. In the State ex rel. Off vs. Smith, 14 Wis. 497, 
this Court decided that a person cannot lawfully hold 
such an office unless he is a qualified elector of the State. 
The grounds of that decision are stated in the opinion 
by Dixon, C. J., to be, that as to all independent popular 
governments "it is an acknowledged principle, which 
lies at the very foundation, and the enforcement of which 



136 

needs neither the aid of statutory or constitutional en- 
actments or restriction, that the government is institu- 
ted by the citizens for their liberty and protection,, and 
that it is to be administered, and its powers and func- 
tions exercised by them and through their agency." In 
that case the defendant was an alien, and had entered 
upon the discharge of the duties of the office of sheriff, 
to which he has been elected, without having become an 
elector by declaring his intention to become a citizen; 
indeed he had not done so when the action was com- 
menced. Under this state of facts this Court held that 
he could not lawfully hold the office, but did not decide, 
either expressly or by necessary implication, that he 
could not have held it had the disqualification been re- 
moved intermediate the election and the commencement 
of the term. It is true that it is said in the opinion 
that the defendant was ineligible; but it is not said 
that he was ineligible to be elected to such office, and 
the obvious meaning is that he was ineligible to hold the 
office. The term "ineligible" means as well disqualifica- 
tion to hold an office, as disqualification to be elected 
to an office." 

. The same doctrine is reaffirmed and adhered to in 
a still later Wis. Case. Justice Lyons delivering the 
opinion of the Court in the case of the State v. Trumpf, 
50 Wis. p. 103, holds as follows: 

. "Only two cases have been adjudicated by this Court 
which have any direct bearing upon the questions to be 
determined on this appeal. These are State ex rel. Off. 
V. Smith, 14 Wis. 497, and State ex rel. Schuet v. Mur- 
ray, 28 Wis. 96. In the first of these cases it was held 
to be fundamental principle of our government that a 
person not an elector of the State is ineligible to hold a 
public office therein, although our constitution and 
statutes do not expressly so ordain. In the latter case it 
. was held that, in the absence of any constitutional or 
statutory provision on the subject, such lineligibility 
goes only to the holding of the office, and hence that, 
if an alien who is not an elector receives a plurality of 
votes for an office, he may lawfully hold and exercise 
the same, if, by naturalization or declaration, his dis- 



137 

ability is removed before the commencement of the term 
of office to which he has been elected." 

In a treatise on the law of Public Officers, Mechem 
lays down the following general rule : 

"Where no limitations are prescribed, however, the 
right to hold a public office under our political system 
is an implied atribute of citizenship, and is presumed to 
be co-extensive with that of voting at an election held 
for the purpose of choosing an incumbent for that office ; 
those and those only who are competent to select the of- 
ficer being deemed competent also to hold the office." 

Under the influence of the authorities cited above, I 
can reach no other conclusion than that the right to hold 
a public office which is elective, should be limited to 
those citizens who are qualified electors of the St§te or 
County over which the jurisdiction of such office ex- 
tends. The Courts have evidently been governed to some 
extent by considerations of public policy (and I think 
very properly so) in deciding ca^es of this character and 
the doctrine that the right of suffrage and the capacity 
to hold office must co-exist, appeals to me as a sound and 
conservative principle of law. Therefore, it is my opin- 
ion that a citizen who is not a qualified elector of Rus- 
sell County is iij eligible to fill an elective office of said 
County. 

I remain. 

Very respectfully, 

Alex. M. Garber^ 

Attorney General. 



June 20th, 1907. 
Hon. Harry C. Gunnels, 

Superintendent of Education, 
Capitol. 
Dear Sir: 

I have your favor of the 10th instant requesting me to 
advise you whether under the Act of March 2nd, 1907, 
(Pamphlet Acts 1907, 174) you should accept a deed for 
school house purposes to surface rights only. 



138 

Section 3 of this Act provides that "No money shall 
be appropriated for the erection of a new school build- 
ing on a plat of ground of less dimensions than two 
acres." Section 4 imposes certain duties on the County 
Superintendent of Education with reference to the col- 
lection of the fund with which the school house is erected 
or repaired and provides that "Whenever it shall be 
shown to the satisfaction of the County Superintendent 
of Education * * * that a deed has been properly execu- 
ted conveying to the State of Alabama for the benefit of 
said district the lot or parcel of land on which said pub- 
lic school house is being erected or repaired, and after 
such deed is delivered to and accepted by him," the 
money named shall be used as therein directed. The 
Act does not in terms require the lot or parcel of land 
to be conveyed in fee simple. The following quotation 
is contained in 18 A. & E. Enc. of Law, Sec. Ed. 14G; 
"In law, 'land' signifies any ground forming part of 
the earth's surface which can be held as individual 
property, whether soil or rock, or water-covered, and 
everything annexed to it, whether by nature, as trees, 
water, etc., or by the hand of man, as buildings, fences, 
etc. The word when used in a deed includes not only 
the naked earth, but everything within it, and the build- 
ings, trees, fixtures, fences, stones, minerals, waters, 
and herbage upon it." 

As the Avord land is used here, the conclusion cannot 
be escaped that anything less than a deed to the land 
in the fmllest sense will not comply with the law. It is 
at once apparent that a deed to surface rights only is not 
a deed to a lot or plat of land as the word "land" is 
used in law. 

As the Act is silent on this question, my conclusion 
is reached as a matter of construction. If by following 
this opinion hardship will be worked a» indicated in 
your letter, I suggest that you have the Act amended 
as you may think best. 

I remain, , 

Yours very truly, 

Alex. M. Gaeber, 

Attorney General. 



139 

September 14tli, 1907. 

Hon. Harry C. Gunnels, 

Superintendent of Education, 

Montgomery^ Alabama. 
Dear Sir : 

On June 14th, 1907, you handed me a letter from Hon. 
W. H. Storey, County Superintendent of Education of 
Pickens County, requesting my advice on same. Mr. 
Storey states that a district in his County desiring to 
make application for aid in building a school house se- 
cured a deed to a plot of land, which deed was duly exe- 
cuted and recorded; and since the recording of the deed 
the patrons of the property secured have decided not to 
apply for aid at the present time and are desirous c^ re- 
storing the title of the land to the original owners and 
request you to advise them who has authority to convey 
the land back to such owners. 

I find no authority in the Act of March 2nd, 1907, ap- 
propriating 167,000 to aid rural school districts in the 
State to erect and repair public school houses, for a 
conveyance of the title required by the State to the land 
donated as provided in the Act. The land remains the- 
property of the State for the benefit of the school dis- 
trict in question, until there is Legislative authority for 
the conveyance of the title of the State. Nor am I aware 
of any statute, other than the Act referred to, giving au- 
thority to any officer to convey the title of the State. 

I herewith return Mr. Storey's letter. 
Yours very truly, 

Alex. M. Garber^ 

Attorney General. 



September 14th, 1907. 
Hon. Harry C. Gunnels, 

Superintendent of Education^ 

Montgomery, Ala. 
Dear Sir: 

On August 8th, 1907, you handed me a letter from 
Hon. Chas. C. Johnson, County Superintendent of Edu- 
cation of Perry County, and requested me to advise 



140 

you in response to Mr. Johnson's letter. It It seems 
that the trustees of District 28, Perry County, con- 
veyed the title of certain land to the State with a view 
of securing aid in the erection of a school house under 
the Act of March 2nd, 1907, and afterwards it seemed 
advisable to the Trustees to sell the land so conveyed to 
the State with a view of locating a school elsewhere. The 
deed to the land however, having been duly executed and 
recorded conveying the same to the State for the benefit 
of th district in question. The facts are not fully stated 
in Mr. Johnson's letter and if I have incorrectly stated 
them, Mr. Johnson can advise you. 

On the facts above set forth, I advise you that there 
is no authority under the Act of March 2nd, 1907, nor 
under any other law in this State, so far as I can find, 
for a conveyance of the title acquired by the State to 
this land, and nothing can be done to that end until a 
future Legislature sees fit to give such authority. 

I herewith return Mr. Johnson's letter. 
Yours very truly, 

Alex. M. Garber^ 

Attorney General. 



September 27th, 1907. 

Hon. Harry C. Gunnels, 

Superintendent of Education, 
Capitol. 
Dear Sir: 

On the 5th instant, you addressed a communication to 
ine with which you enclosed a letter from Mr. Arthur 
F. Harman, Superintendent of the New Decatur Public 
Schools, New Decatur, Alabama, in which Mr. Harman 
desires to be advised by you whether the school funds 
for New Decatur for the year 1907-8, will be paid to him 
by the County Superintendent of Morgan County or 
paid over by you direct to Mr. Harman under Section 
176 of the Act of August 13th, 1907, known as the Munic^ 
ipal Code. 



141 

The title of the Act referred to is as follows : 

"An act to provide for the organization, incorporation, 
government and regulation of cities and towns and to 
define the rights, powers, duties, jurisdiction and author- 
ity of such cities and towns and of the officers thereof, 
and to prescribe penalties for violations of the provis- 
ions of this Act." 

Section 176 of the Act is as follows: 

■^'Each incorporated city or town, as a special school 
district or embraced therein shall receive its proportion- 
ate share of the public school revenue to be paid over 
by the State Superintendent of Education direct to the 
City Superintendent of schools and by him paid over 
to the treasurer." 

After a very careful consideration of the question, 1 
am of opinion that the provision contained in sectiofl 176 
directing the State Superintendent of Education to pay 
over to the City Superintendent of Schools of each incor- 
porated city or town the proportionate share of the pub- 
lic school revenue is not a subject expressed in, covered 
or suggested by the title of the act; or necessary or 
proper to the full rounding of an enactment upon the 
subject which is expressed in the title and is, therefore, 
obnoxious to the requirement of section 45 of the Consti- 
tution that "each law shall contain but one subject 
which shall be clearly expressed in its title." 

In the case of Bell v. State, 115 Ala. 87, the Court con- 
sidered an act "to establish a new charter for the City 
of Huntsville" and held that the provisions of this Act 
forbidding the prosecution on affidavit before a Justice 
of the Peace of a person who had already been arraigned 
before the Mayor for the same act under the City ordi- 
nance, was violative of the constitutional provision, to 
which I have referred. In the course of the opinion. 
Judge McClellan, speaking for the Court, said : 

"The subject to be contained in a bill may be as broad 
and comprehensive as the Legislature may choose to 
make it. It may include innumerable minor subjects, 
provided all these minor subjects are capable of being so 
combined as to form only one grand and comprehensive 
subject ; and if the title of the bill, containing this grand 



142 

and comprehensive subject, is also comprehensive 
enough to include all these minor subjects as one sub- 
ject, the bill and all parts thereof will be valid * * *. The 
grand and comprehensive subject expressed in the title 
to this act is the charter of the city, the creation of cor- 
porate existence and the conferring of corporate powers. 
Such subject embraces all the minor subjects incident 
to such corporate existence and powers; and whatever 
is necessary to a complete municipal charter, or is em- 
braced in the thought contained in the general expres- 
sion, is a part of the subject expressed, and authorized 
by the general expression. * * *. But, to take away 
from any tribunal, even of the most inferior character, 
established by general laws and charged with their ad- 
ministration, jurisdiction theretofore conferr-ed to try 
offenses against the criminal laws of the State, and to 
confer it exclusively upon an officer of a municipal cor- 
poration, is not to provide for the exercise of any func- 
tion of municipal life nor to confer any power incident 
to municipal government nor to follow any suggestion 
which can be referred to the expressed purpose of es- 
tablishing a municipal charter." 

In the case of Black v. State, 144 Ala. 92, the Court 
followed the case of Bell v. State, supra, and held that a 
like provision contained in "an act to amend an act to 
incorporate the town of Geneva," was unconstitutional. 

The following cases support the general principle 
laid down by Judge McClellan in the Bell case : 

Ex rel Gayles, 108 Ala. 514 ; 

Bradley v. State, 99 Ala. 177 : 

Glenn v. Lynn, 89 Ala. 608; 

Mobile V. L. & N., 124 Ala. 132-142; 

The State v. So. Ey. Co., 115 Ala. 250 ; 

Ballantyne v. Wickersham, 75 Ala. 533 ; 

Ex rel Reynolds, 87 Ala. 138; 

White V. Boyin, 113 Ala. 170; 

Montgomery v. State, 88 Ala. 141; 

Sanders v. State, 117 Ala. 543 ; 

Lindsay v. U. S. Asso., 120 Ala. 156 ; 

Covington v. Thompson, 142 Ala. 90, 111-112. 



143 

. The title of the act in question may for convenience be 
divided into three divisions : 

(a.) To provide for the organization, incorporation, 
government and regulation of cities and towns ; 

(b.) To define rights, powers, duties, jurisdiction 
and authority of such cities and towns and of the of- 
ficers thereof; 

(c.) To prescribe penalties for violations of the pro- 
visions of this act. 

Applying the principle of these cases to the case in 
hand, the subject matter of section 176 does not relate to 
the organization, incorporation, government and regu- 
lation of cities and towns ; nor is it a right, power, duty 
or a feature of the jurisdiction and authority of cities 
and towns and of the officers thereof, and clearly^t has 
no relation to the last division of the title, — prescribing 
penalties for violation of the provisions of this act. In 
analyzing the question with the title in view, it is ap- 
parent that the only phase of the title which gives any 
sort of support to the provision of section 176 is that 
part of the title which I have set out as division "b," 
viz : "To define the rights, powers, duties, jurisdiction 
and authority of such cities and towns and of the offi- 
cers thereof." And so far from being a right, power or 
duty of a city, it imposes on the other hand a duty upon 
the State Superintendent of Education, and would 
change the entire system of dealing with a large por- 
tion of the public school revenue, — in contravention of 
existing laws on that subject. It also indirectly affects 
the compensation to which the County Superintendent 
of Education is entitled under section 3555 of the Code 
by relieving him of the duty of distributing so much of 
the public school revenue as would by the proposed sys- 
tem be paid direct to the City. It does not provide 
for the exercise of any function of municipal life nor 
does it confer any power incident to municipal govern- 
ment. 

The purpose of section 45 of the Constitution, said 
Chief Justice Brickell in Lindsay vs. U. S. Association, 
120 Ala. 156, is among other things, "to fairly apprise 
the people, through such publication of legislative pro- 



144 

ceedings as is usually made of the subjects of legislation 
that are being considered, in order that they may have 
the opportunity of being heard thereon by petition or 
otherwise, if they shall so desire." And further in the 
same case it is held that "the title must be such, at least, 
as fairly to support or give a clew to the subject dealt 
with in the act, and, unless it comes up to this standard, 
it falls below the constitutional requirement." 

The subject matter of this section (176) would never 
be suggested to the legislative mind from reading or 
hearing read the caption of this bill ; nor is it reasonable 
to say that the general public was fairly apprised, from 
the title of the act, under the principles above quoted, 
that a provision was contained therein which directly 
affected and changed the duty heretofore imposed by laAV 
upon the State Superintendent of Education, as well 
as the duties and emoluments of County Superintend- 
ents of Education in sixty-seven counties. 

It follows, therefore, that section 176 of the act under 
consideration falls to the ground, and there is no au- 
thority for you to pay to the Superintendent of public 
schools of New Decatur the school funds for that City, 

In order that no misunderstanding may result, I beg 
to say that the remaining portions of the municipal code 
are unaffected by this ruling; for it is well settled that 
where an act is "complete within itself, sensible, cap- 
able of being executed and wholly independent of that 
which is rejected, the enactment will be upheld and en- 
forced as to that which 4s valid." 

Harper vs. State, 109 Ala. 28. 

I beg to remain, 

Very respectfully, 

Alex. M. Garbek^ 

Attornev General. 



145 

October 18th, 1907. 

Hon. H. Y. Beooke_, 

Assistant Examiner of Public Accounts, 
Capitol. 
Dear Sir: 

On the 26th ultimo you requested me to advise you on 
the following questions: 

First. Can a sheriff use a prisoner as a trusty, the 
prisoner doing such services as cleaning the Court House 
and Jail, carrying food to prisoners, running errands 
and performing such other duties as the sheriff may di- 
rect about the house, etc., and charge the State with 
the feed bill for such prisoner. 

Second. Have the Superintendents of Educatiofi and 
the School Boards of the County the right to apportion 
the school money in the districts so as to give white chil- 
dren in one school district thirty cents per capita, and 
those in other school districts, three dollars per capita. 

Answering your questions in the order stated, I beg 
to say that the sheriff is entitled to a fixed amount for 
feeding each prisoner in jail under charge or conviction, 
and there is no provision in the statute (Code section 
4565) depriving the sheriff of this compensation where 
he uses the prisoner as mentioned in your question. Un- 
less the Legislature so declares there is no power or au- 
thority for making such deduction. 

Section 256 of the Constitution directs that "the pub- 
lic school funds shall be apportioned to the several coun- 
ties in proportion to the number of school children of 
school age therein, and shall be so apportioned to the 
schools in the districts or townships in the counties as 
to provide, as nearly as practicable, school terms of 
equal duration in such school districts or townships." 
As you will observe the funds are apportioned to the 
counties on a per capita basis, and the school boards of 
the counties apportion the funds, not on a per capita 
basis, but in such manner as to provide, as nearly as 
practicable, school terms of equal duration in the sev- 
eral districts or townships in the county. — A large diS' 
cretion is thus reposed in the county boards, and the pre- 



146 

sumption will be indulged that the apportionment as 
made was necessary to carry out the constitutional re- 
quirement. 

As the second question above deals with a question 
relating to the public schools, I am forwarding a copy 
of this letter to the Superintendent of Education. 
Yours very truly, 

Alex. M. Garber^ 

Attorney General. 



Montgomery, April 2nd, 1908. 

Hon. Harry C. Gunnels, 

Superintendent of Education, 

Montgomery, Alabama. 
Dear Sir: 

According to information received from your Depart- 
ment, there are about 11,000 District School Trustees 
in the State of Alabama. I am receiving every day let- 
ters from many of these District Trustees from all parts 
of the State, seeking information on the question of 
their exemption from the payment of poll tax and their 
right to vote in the May Primary. This situation, which 
indicates a condition of uncertainty in the minds of the 
people on this subject, has induced me to send you this 
official communication in order that you may send out 
from your Department the advices contained herein. 

Section 3575 of the Civil Code of 1896 is as follows : 

"Township Trustees are exempt from road duty, jury 
duty and poll tax, so long as they shall continue in of- 
fice and perform the duties thereof; and the certificate 
of the County Superintendent of Education shall be ev- 
idence of the fact." 

The Constitution of Alabama of 1901, provides that 
"To entitle a person to vote at any election by the peo- 
ple, he shall have * * * paid on or before the first day 
of February next preceding the date of the election at 
which he offers to vote all poll taxes due from him for 
the year 1901, and for each subsequent year." (Consti- 



147 

tution, Section 178.) It further declares that "the poll 
tax mentioned in this Article shall be one dollar and 
fifty cents upon each male inhabitant of the State, over 
the age of 21 years, and under the age of 45 years, who 
would not now be exempt by law." (Constitution, Sec- 
tion 184.) 

The present Constitution of Alabama was ratified on 
November 28th, 1901. On that date, and for many years 
prior thereto, the statute (Code Section 3575) was in 
force which exempted Township Trustees from the pay- 
ment of poll tax, subject to the conditions prescribed 
in said section of the Code. Township Trustees being 
thus exempt from the payment of poll tax at the date 
of the ratification of the Constitution, they weie not re- 
quired to pay the poll tax in order to qualify as an^lec- 
tor. 

The Eedistricting Act of September 30th, 1903, abol- 
ished the Township lines for school purposes and retain- 
ed Township Trustees under the provisions of the then 
existing law only for the purpose of selling and leasing 
the Sixteenth Section School lands. The said Act also 
created a local board of three District Trustees for each 
District to be elected by the qualified electors thereof, 
and defined the duties of such District Trustees, which 
are practically the same as the duties of the Township 
Trustees under the old law. 

On March 13th, 1906, my predecessor in office ren- 
dered an official opinion to the State Superintendent of 
Education, in which he held that the District Trustees, 
created under the general Eedistricting Act, were ex- 
empt from the payment of poll tax, inasmuch as they 
were exempt under Section 3575 of the Code but therein 
called Township Trustees and that the mere change of 
the name, their duties being but slightly changed, could 
not operate to defeat the exemption. From the date of 
the announcement of this opinion — March 13th, 1906 — 
I am informed by you that the Department of Educa- 
tion, acting under the authority of this opinion has uni- 
formly advised District Trustees over the State that 
they were under the law exempt from the payment of 
poll tax. I think the ruling of the Attorney-General's 



148 

Department above referred to should be regarded as au- 
thority for the exemption of such District Trustees from 
the payment of poll tax and no District Trustee should 
be challenged at the Primary on May 18th, on the 
ground that he has failed to pay such tax. 

It will also be a matter of importance to the District 
Trustees who will be elected on the first Saturday in 
July, 1908, to be advised of the fact that the new Code, 
which will become effective on May 1st, 1908, abolishes 
entirely Township Trustees, omits Section 3575 of the 
Code of 1896, and contains, as far as I have been able 
to discover after careful examination, no provision ex- 
empting District School Trustees, under the general law 
from road duty, jury duty, and poll tax. 

This will effect a change in the status .of District 
Trustees in respect to the payment of poll tax and on 
October 1st, 1908, they will be liable for the payment 
of such tax, and will also be subject to road duty and 
jury duty. 

I remain. 

Yours very truly, 

(Signed) Alex. M. Garber^ 

Attorney General. 



INDEX. 



INDEX. 



EDUCATION ARTICLE OF CONSTITUTION. 

PAGE. SECTION, 

Census, school, Legislature to provide for 118 268 

Children, school age of 115 256 

Funds for schools, how apportioned 115 256 

principal to be kept inviolate 

and undiminished 115 257 

interest, how applied 115 % 257 

sources of ( State) 115 260 

Lands given schools, how applied 115 258 

Location of certain institutions not to be changed, 

exception 118 267 

Mobile County, how schools of affected by Consti- 
tution 119 270 

Moneys, all applied to pay teachers 4% excepted. _ 116 261 

Poll taxes, to be applied to public school support 115 259 

Polytechnic Institute, control and management of 118 266 

Sectarian or Denominational schools excluded from 

public funds 116 263 

Taxation for schools by State, rate of 115 260 

special by counties 119 269 

University of Alabama, management and control of _116-117 264 

financial support for 117 265 

Statutes, Political, Civil and Criminal. 

Note: — The main portions of the laws relative to the common 
schools are indexed under the title SCHOOLS, with appropriate 
sub-titles. 

ALABAMA ACADEMY FOR BLIND 87 1943-1948 

ALABAMA INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS 76-83 1912-1932 

ALABAMA INSTITUTE FOR DEAF 83-87 1933-1942 

ALABAMA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE 72-75 1899-1911 



152 

BOARDS OF EDUCATION- 
PAGE. SECTION. 

County Boards, election, power and duties 19-20 1712-1716 

Municipal Boards, powers and duties 102-103 1349-1350 

104-106 1353-1355 

BOARD OF TEACHERS" EXAMINERS 22-29 1719-1750 

BOOKS, SELECTION AND ADOPTION 45-57 1805-1850 

CEMENT LABORATORY AT THE UNIVERSITY 71 1893 

CHILD LABOR 110-114 6248-6449 

CENSUS OF SCHOOL CHILDREN— 

Provisions for talking 21 1717 

Compensation of the enumerators 21 1718 

False or fraudulent enumeration ; penalty for 109 7755 
CHILDREN— 

Eligible to Public Schools 30 1755-1757 

Reformatory and Industrial School for 90-95 1954-1907 

CITY AND TOWN SCHOOLS UNDER MUNICI- 
PAL CODE 102-107 134S-135S 

COUNTY HIGfi SCHOOLS 60-G2 1861-1868 

Commission to locate 60 1861 

Sites procured; Donations 60 1862 

Control of ^ 61 1828 

Free schools not affected 61 1864 

Teachers and students 61 1865 

Course of study 62 1866 

Matriculation fee 62 1867 

HOUSES FOR RURAL SCHOOLS 96-100 1975-1993 

Appropriation 96 1975 

Limitation of 97 1976 

Application for; How made and conditions 97 1977-1978 

Consideration and record of applications 97 1979-1980 

Limit of donation in district 97 1981 

Plans and specifications 97 1982 

Area of lot 98 1983 

Certificate of county board 98 1984 

Order and issuance of warrant 98 1985 

Delivery and forwarding of warrant 98 1986 

Statements filed and kept 99 1987 

Receipts for warrants 99 1988 

Payment of warrants 99 1989 

Account with each county 99 1990 



153 

PAGE. SECTION. 

Undelivered warrants 99 1991 

Unexpended balance; How disposed of lOO 1992 

Warrants and proceeds ; How used 100 1993 

HOUSES FOR SCHOOLS— 

Injuring or defacing same, or fences thereof ; 

Penalty . 107 6413 

Shooting or throwing missiles into; Uenalty 108 6897 

Wrongful use of building funds; Penalty 109 7754 

LANDS SCHOOL; LEASE AND SALE 39-45 1781-1804 

MINES AND MINING ; PREPARATORY SCHOOL 

FOR 95-96 1971-1974 

NEGROES; SCHOOL FOR DEAF MUTES AND 

BLIND 88-90 1994-1953 

OPINIONS OF ATTORNEYS-GENERAL 120-148 

Apportionment school funds by county 

boards 121, 130, 145 

Books ; Purchase of from certain dealers 127 

Commissions for collecting county school tax 130 
City and town schools, to whom funds for are 

payable 140-144 

Copy books, whether must be used, etc 123 

County Superintendents; Qualifications for 

election or appointment 134 

Garnishment ; Subjection of teachers salary to 131 
Houses for rural schools; Application of 

funds, etc. 131-134 

*H Surface right in lands far 137 

Withdrawal of deed to 139 

Municipal Code Lew; State school funds 

tmder 140-144 

Poll tax, exemption of trustees from 120, 146 

PENAL PUBLIC SCHOOL LAW 107-109 

Injuring or defacing buildings 107 6413 

Disturbing people at school meeting, etc 10-7 6834 

Shooting or throwing into school house 108 6897 

Moneys ; Embezzlement of 107 6834 

Examination questions; buying, selling, etc. 108 1750 

Text Books; use of unauthorized 108 1751 

Text Books ; unlawful charge for 109 7752 



154 

PAGE. SECTION. 

Warrants for school house funds, wrongful 

use of 109 7754 

Enumeration of school children, false or 

fraudulent 109 7755 

SCHOOL Book Commission 45-57 1805-1850 

Books; selection of 45-57 1805-1850 

Census 21 1717-1718 

Children eligible 30 1755-1757 

Districts 10 1691-1696 

Districts, Municipal 106 1356 

Funds 3-9, 31-38 1760-1780 

SCHOOL HOUSES 96-100 1975-1993 

Lands 39-45 1781 et seq 

Law, Municipalities exempt 106 1357 

SCHOOLS 3-10O 1678-1993 

Apportionment of School Fund; disbursement 31-38 1760-1780 
Boards of Education; Election, powers and 

duties of 19-20 1712-1716 

Census Enumeration of Children 21 1717-1718 

Children and Pupils Eligible 30 1755-1757 

City and Town Schools under municipal gov- 
ernment 102-107 1348-1358 

County Superintendent of Education — 

One elected for each coimty 15 1702 

Term of office, removal 15 1703 

Oath of office and bond 15 1704 

Approval and record of bond 16 1705 

New or additional bond 16 1706 

His duties 16-17 1707 

Forfeiture for failure to make annual report 18 1708 

Books and Accounts ; Examination 18 1709 

Vacancies; How filled; Term, etc., of ap- 
pointees 18 1710 

Compensation of 18 1711 

Proceedings against for failure to pay over 

moneys 100 5940-5945 

Districts and Redistricting Boards — 

How changed 10 1691 

Counties and Districts 11 1692 

Cities and Towns; Separate School Districts 11 1693 



155 

PAGE. SECTION. 

Not affected by county lines 11 1694 

Funds; How paid 11 1695 

Repeal 12 1696 

District Trustees; Election, Powers and 

Duties of 12-14 1697-1701 

Graded schools increase number of trustees 14 1700 

Municipal school districts 14 1701 

Fund — 

Appropriations 3 1678 

When accrue 4 1697 

Lands; Lease and Sale 39-45 1781-1804 

^ What are 39 1781 

Sale of 39 1782 

Consent of inhabitants 39 ^ 1783 

Resale 40 1784 

Proceeds of sale 40 1785 

Notes taken 40 1786 

Manner and terms of sale 40 1787 

Timber lots reserved 41 1788 

Timber lots; how used 41 1789 

Penalty for injuries to timber 41 1790 

Fines paid for school fund 41 1791 

Certificate of purchase 41 1792 

Certificate of purchase ; Effect of 42 1793 

Revesting of title 42 1794 

Fines go to school fund 43 

Patent 

Issue of patent by Secretary of State ; Cor- 
rection of mistake 43 1797 

Issue of patents in other cases 43 1798 

Collection of past due notes 43 1799 

Appointment of agents 43 1800 

Township credited with collection on notes— 44 1801 

Proceeds of ^4 1802 

44 1803 

Lease 

^ . 45 1804 

Compromises 

Officers and Boards * ^^^^ 

Scholastic Periods ^^ 

special Tax Election 57-60 1851-1860 

Superintendent of Education (State) 4-9 1681-1688 



1795 
43 1796 



156 

PAGE. SECTION. 

Term of office; Salary 4 1681 

Oath of office and bond > 5 1682 

Office and books; papers and records 5 1683 

Clerks and their salaries 5 1684 

Duties of 5-8 1685 

Report to Governor ; Contents 8-9 1686 

Report, printing and distribution of 9 1687 

Vacancy filled by Governor; Term, etc., of 

appointee 9 1688 

Teachers' Institutes 29-30 1751-1754 

Teachers; Qualifications, License, Powers and 

Duties of 22-29 1719-1750 

Board of Examiners 22 1719 

Meetings of Examiners . — 22 1720 

List of questions — 22 1721 

Times of regular examinations 22 1722 

Special examinations 23 1723 

Examinations in counties; conduct of 23 1724 

Examination fees , 23 1725 

Compensation of examiners 24 1726-1727 

Applicants not to receive assistance 24 1728 

Statement signed by applicants 24 1729 

Moral character of applicants : 25 1730 

Profane language or intoxicants 25 1731 

Grades of certificates 25 1732 

Percentage and average required 25 1733 

Branches of learning for examination 25 1734 

Method of examination, pen and ink 26 1735 

Papers delivered to examiner ; Transmission 26 1736 

Papers examined and graded 26 1737 

Papers kept on file six months 26 1739 

Certificates when issued 26 1738 

Life time of certificates 26 1740 

Life certificates 27 1741 

Forfeiture of same 27 1742 

Revoking certificates 27 1743 

Register of teachers' license 27 1744 

When and vphere examination law effective 27 1745 

Nature of alcoholic drinks and narcotics, 

instruction in .— 28 1746 



157 



PAGE. SECTION. 

Teaching agriculture in public schools 28 1747 

Register kept by teacher 28 1748 

Teachers' monthly report 28 . j^749 

Teachers to be paid monthly 29 1750 

Unlawful dealing with examination ques- 
tions; Penalty for 108 7750 

Unlawful use of text books by teachers 108 1751 

TOWNSHIPS— 

Lines abolished for school purposes 10 1689 

Inhabitants incorporaed 10 1690 

TRUSTEES FOR SCHOOL DISTRICTS ^-_ 12-14 1697-1701 

Election and term of office 12 1697 

Organization of 13 1698 

Duties of 13 ^ 1699 

No. of may be increased by graded schools 14 1700 

Municipal districts, who are trustees for 14 1701 

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA. 

Control and management 62-71 1869-1892 

Cement laboratory at 71 1893 

Summer School at 71 1894-1896 



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